Granddaughter to the Lioness
by skyflyte12
Summary: Adalia is the violet eyed daughter of Aly. When she decides that she wants to follow in the footsteps of the Lioness, no one is game enough to deny her. This is Adalia's story as she trains to be a knight. ::COMPLETED::
1. Adalia

**Granddaughter to the Lioness**

A ten-year-old girl with shoulder length raven coloured hair and brilliant purple eyes was swaying aboard the deck of a ship bound for Tortall. A man with deep-set brown eyes and a unique colour of skin that indicated that he was neither raka nor luarin stood solemnly beside her, an arm draped over her shoulder.

"… Da, I'll be fine." The girl whispered as she turned to look at her concerned father.

"I know, Adalia, but you can't force me to be happy that we will not be able to see you for at least eight years, probably much more." Nawat whispered back.

They could both see Port Caynn looming up in the distance, a small speck on the horizon in the early morning.

"Oh Da, don't worry about that. Remember that Ma gave me a darking so I can contact you; we will even be able to see each other!" a frustrated Adalia exasperatedly reminded her father.

"Yes, yes I know." Nawat quickly leaned down and gathered his daughter up into his arms. Adalia hugged him back just as hard.

"You still have Aidan, nothing could stop him becoming a spy." Adalia was referring to her twin who was still at the Palace in the Copper Isles.

"Again, it's not the same as having you. Who will keep all the nobles on their toes with her infamous temper now that you are gone?" Nawat joked.

"Oh." Adalia glanced at her father and remarked, "You don't fool me. I know you will miss my charm and wit."

Nawat chuckled. Adalia was well known for her short and ferocious temper, which it seems she had inherited from the Lioness, even if most of the time she had the personality of her mother.

As the ship docked, the two looked carefully around the port, and, seeing a number of eyes directed towards one certain individual, they left the ship and headed towards her. The Lioness was dismounting from her horse, a mare named Silverwind. Adalia raced forward at lightning speed and jumped on her grandmother, and was rewarded by being swept into a large hug.

When they had both calmed down enough for intelligent conversation, Alanna set down her granddaughter. Tears glistening in both of their eyes, they carefully looked each other over, purple eyes taking in all the features of each other's appearance.

"So. I hear that you want to be a knight." Remarked Alanna, her eyes and voice brimming with pride.

"Yes." Adalia replied simply. Both women were brought back by reality with an apologetic cough from Nawat.

"Well, I trust you will take care of Adalia" – (Alanna nodded in agreement) – "In that case it is time for me to get back on that ship." Following Nawat's finger, the women could see the captain irritably gesturing for all of the passengers to board.

Nawat stooped down and gathered his daughter into a tight hug. "I love you Adalia. Be good. Don't hurt too many boys." At this Adalia grinned sheepishly. She had inherited the crow's amazing strength and speed, as well as the animal's immunity to spells from her father. It had been extremely useful in allowing her to escape punishment, but had also been the cause of a lot of her punishments, when she did not realise her own strength.

"I love you too Da. I'll try not to."

The reality that Adalia was to be left in Tortall without her mother or father hit painfully as she watched the boat leave the harbour. She turned back to Alanna, and saw that she was mounting Silverwind.

"Ok. It's time to go to Corus." Alanna brought around a graceful bright chestnut mare for Adalia to inspect.

"She is for you. Even if you are fast enough without her, you're training masters would prefer that you ride." Alanna stated matter-of-factly.

Adalia's next sentence caught in her throat as she beheld the beautiful horse. "She's for me?" She observed Alanna nod and she danced around in a circle. "This is all too much! Thankyou soo much Gran!" Alanna just shook her head as Adalia jumped onto the mare's back with an ease that suggested she could go much higher. Alanna mused that not many of the boys would be willing to dare to fight with her, not only because she happened to be plainly related to the 'Legendary Lioness,' with her purple eyes, but also because they would realise she was amazing in her own right.

As the two turned their horses around in the direction of Corus, the crowd that had viewed this unique greeting dispersed. Alanna could be seen with a satisfied smile on her face. _'Things are going to be very interesting for the next few years'_ she mused _'not to mention that she is the first of my granddaughters to be attending the palace as a page. Adalia is the perfect candidate to teach those boys once and for all that girls are not to be trifled with.'_

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Next chapter: Corus

**Disclaimer:** I am not Tamora Pierce, the only characters I 'own' are the new made up characters (in this chapter Adalia) Anyways I hope you enjoy it. I'd like to say I hate having a character that is so powerful, but I can't really help it, as she is part crow. I would just like to say her twin inherited his mother's sight and none of the amazing crow strength, while Ady (Adalia) only inherited the crow stuff… just so she isn't too powerful. Hmm anyways enjoy! Please rate & review.


	2. Corus

**Chapter 2: Corus**

The palace in Corus was usually the centre of activity, and that day was no exception. As the two approached the palace Adalia gasped. [They passed through a wall lined with soldiers dressed in the royal gold and red. Behind the wall, level after level of buildings and towers rose, up to the palace itself. The area had its own gardens, wells, stables, barracks and menagerie. Outside the wall on the other side lay the Royal forest. (note[this is the description I took from Alanna: The First Adventure) Alanna led the way to the courtyard beside the stables. Adalia climbed down from her mare as efficient ostlers swarmed them to take control of their mounts. They gave Alanna a wide berth as she gestured to Adalia and strode purposefully towards a specific building.

As Alanna saw Adalia's face, she slowed to walk next to her. Observing that the palace seemed like a labyrinth of rooms and corridors preoccupied Adalia, so she did not notice that she was being observed.

"You were living in the palace in the Copper Isles, and yet you look distinctly like I did on my first visit here." Alanna commented, not without a small touch of amusement.

Adalia looked up the short distance into her grandmother's eyes and replied, "It's just so _different_. And everyone looks different. The land is different, and the climate… it's just so unlike home."

Alanna briskly hugged her reassuring her: "You will get to know it in no time." As Adalia looked at her unbelieving, she gave a short bark of laughter and pulled her closer. "You will. Believe me."

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Alanna abruptly stopped and knocked on a door. "Gary, open up."

"…Come in." A man's voice called from the other side. As Alanna stepped into the room, the man behind the desk covered in papers jumped up and greeted her enthusiastically.

"Hey Sir Alanna! Long time no see!" He quickly leaned forward and hugged her. Abruptly spotting Adalia enter in her wake, he stepped back to take in the girl.

Adalia stood there patiently waiting for him to finish his inspection of her. She caught the now familiar lingering of his eyes on her purple ones, the observation of her lightly coloured skin that made it look like she was tanned all year round and her stubborn chin. She rolled her eyes and he seemed to notice he was staring a little too much.

He cleared his throat and said "Adalia of Pirate's Swoop?"

"Obviously." She had grown more than a little impatient of people stating the obvious. She was to be addressed as hailing from the Swoop throughout her training, as obviously no one would train foreigners to be a knight of their order. The catch was that she had to live in Tortall, one that she was happy to accept.

This brought a chuckle from the tall man, and his eyes flicked to Alanna – "She seems to have inherited your temper. Gods help us." Adalia waved her hand in a gesture of flattered acceptance, acting the court lady.

"Ok. Adalia, I am Duke Gareth of Naxen, and will be the overseer of your years as a page, and as a squire if you are not sponsored by a knight, your squire years as well." (note: This is Gary the younger, not his father, (who passed on) and he does not actually train the pages, he is just in charge of dishing out punishments, as well as deciding what (if any) free time they receive.)

His tone became more professional as he visibly gathered himself. "You're here, Adalia of Pirate's Swoop, to learn to be a knight and a noble of Tortall. It's not easy. Especially for you, having the disadvantage of being a girl. You must learn to defend the weak, to obey your overlord, to champion the cause of right…" His speech continued as he went on to explain that she would be taking lessons from various different instructors. He also explained that she would attend the more studious classes in the morning, and then the physical side after lunch.

As his speech continued, Adalia was thrilled. She stood up straight, a steely look creeping into her bright purple eyes. This was why she wanted to become a knight. She wanted action, and then chance to do something that would be helpful. This was what she wanted to do with her life.

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Soon: Chapter 3- Start of Training

**Disclaimer** – yet again, I am not TP!!!!


	3. Start of Training

**Chapter 3- Start of Training**

An hour or so later a slightly nervous Adalia heard the bell that meant she had to line up out the front of her door, waiting for the training master, Lord Padraig to greet the pages and assign her an older sponsor, to show her the ropes.

As she lined up, she caught the inquiring glances from her fellow pages, and was astonished (and pleased) to discover that there was another girl page, although from the looks of it she was in her second year.

Lord Padraig strode down the corridor towards them, and the pages stood to attention. He slowly took them all in, his eyes lingering overlong on herself and the other girl – he was a well-known conservative. He stood extremely tall, but was also muscled, even if it seemed he was approaching his later years. His eyes were black. He cleared his throat – "Welcome everyone once again to the torture that is training the be a knight. It seems that we have new pages joining us. Come here."

He gestured to Adalia and two other boys to stand beside him. He addressed a nervous looking blonde-haired boy first. "Name?"

The boys audibly gulped "Dameon of Naxen, my lord."

Seeming content, he addressed the other pages – "Who will sponsor him?" A few hands went up, and he indicated a short boy with deep brown eyes and hair, "Nathan of Olau, you can sponsor him." The boy gladly escaped to stand beside his third year sponsor.

The other first year page, Kaden of Trebond (grandson of Coram Smythesson) was sponsored by Daniel of Goldenlake and Malories Peak, another third year page.

Lord Padraig went to stand by Adalia. "Name?"

"Adalia of Pirate's Swoop, my Lord" She said firmly. He seemed to flinch as she told him her name, and his eyes met Adalia's violet ones for a brief moment.

"Who will sponsor her?" At this a surprising number of hands rose. _I guess being related to a legend overrides the fact that I am a girl_ Adalia thought, amused at this.

Lord Padraig's eyes lingered on the girl, but he seemed to decide against putting them together. Instead he gestured to a second year page – "Charlie of Masbolle, you can take her in hand. Ok. I expect to see you all on time in half a bell's time for dinner."

At this he abruptly turned around and marched away from them all.

A number of the other pages turned and walked after him, a lot of them glancing at her with a curious mixture of hate, apprehension and mischief. _It seems that not all like me._ At this Adalia smiled, thinking _oh, I really hope they will try me_!

Her sponsor approached her, and she could see that he seemed nice. He had sparkling sapphire eyes, a widow's peak and dark brown hair. Adalia was trying to remember who his parents were. Ah yes, Dom of Masbolle and the first official Lady Knight, Keladry of Mindelan and Masbolle.

The pages that were left were inspecting her. Adalia stood there and took it, but only because she had no idea where to go if she ran off. Suddenly they were all smiling. The girl broke through the boys, smacking their heads to get through. It was a funny sight.

"Hello, Adalia, I am Kula of Queenscove. Don't mind these dunderheads, I am the only REAL company around here." Adalia looked at Kula. Her eyes were dancing, but other than that she let out no expression. She had pale skin, emerald eyes, a slight widow's peak and black hair cropped short, which was almost as black as Adalia's own.

Adalia did an exaggerated Player's bow, and comically announced, "So it would seem." She gracefully put one arm in Kula's, and then started striding off in Lord Padraig's direction. She then turned back to the boys who were standing stunned, still back down the hall, and cocked an eyebrow. At the same time she stage whispered to Kula, "Not very bright are they? They don't even know when to escort some ladies to dinner."

She lost her control as Kula broke out laughing, and she saw the comical expressions on the boy's faces as they quickly ran to catch up. She broke into laughter. While they were racing to catch up, she counted them. There were 5 boys including the first year sponsors.

Seeming to have gained their friendship, they all introduced themselves to her – Dameon, Nathan, Kaden, Daniel and her sponsor Charlie. She grabbed a table and they seated themselves either across from them or beside. She was sitting beside Kula and Charlie.

Lord Padraig walked in and started eating, after a short prayer.

"So. The Lioness's granddaughter. How's that working out for you?" Charlie asked her mildly.

"It's fun. I can't get over the wonderful welcome everyone has given me. They have either stood gawking at my eyes or ran for the hills, afraid I will scream their heads off."

This brought a laugh from her company, and she looked sorrowfully at the table, twiddling her fork, "You wouldn't be scared of me, would you?" she asked, a sorry note in her voice. Adalia abruptly became brighter, eyes sparkling: "I am not her. I am even worse than her. I do not ask questions when I am angry, I just get straight to punching." She admitted earnestly, an innocent look to her face. (She _is_ Aly's daughter of course. Where would she be if she weren't a Player at heart?)

This brought an even louder laugh from her newly found friends. They continued joking until Lord Padraig got up and dismissed them. Charlie collected her and showed her back to her rooms.

"Today was easy, but tomorrow the lessons start. Get as much sleep as you can."

Adalia collapsed on her bed and stared at the ceiling. It had been a huge day. She couldn't wait to start her training.

Forcing herself up, she began unpack. As she rifiled through her bags, she heard a faint squeak. A small black blob detached itself from her possessions and climbed up onto her hand. It was the darking that her mother had convinced her to bring, to stay in contact.

"Hello Shard." She greeted the darking.

"Hi Ady." Shard used the nickname the darkings had for her, as Adalia was too hard for them to say.

"This boring. Want fun." The darking whined.

Adalia sighed. "Ok Shard, you can come. But could you be a bracelet? If you're around my neck the boys are likely to think me a sissy. I can't be seen as a sissy now, can I?" She said, half joking.

As the darking delicately wrapped itself around her wrist, Adalia could hear "funfunfun."

And with that, she took off her boots and climbed into bed.

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Next time: Chapter 4: Teaching the boys

Note: I am soo sorry that this chapter isn't that good, I promise that the next chapter will be way better – I just had to set the characters ect … but anyways, now the relatively boring stuff is over, the fun can begin!

**Character List:** (I thought you may get more than a little confused with the pages, so below is a list of her friends.)

**Adalia of Pirate's Swoop**: (I thought you may like a recap) Raven black shoulder-length hair, bright purple eyes, skin that makes it look like she is tanned all year round, Aly's light personality, complemented by her grandmother's short fuse and fierce temper.

**Dameon of Naxen**: He is large (in the tall sense) and blonde with blue eyes. He is in his first year of page training. He was sponsored by Nathan.

**Nathan of Olau**: A third year page, he is short for his age, has deep brown eyes & hair. He likes to joke around with Charlie.

**Kaden of Trebond**: First year, sponsored by Daniel. Red hair, and light blue eyes that are almost white, he is extremely curious. (Grandson of Coram Smythesson)

Daniel of Goldenlake and Malories Peak: Another third year, dark green eyes and black hair. Mostly quiet, but when he gets to know someone, there is no shutting him up. 

**Charlie of Masbolle**: A second year page, sapphire eyes, small widows peak and brown hair. Always joking around with Nathan, he sponsored Adalia.

**Kula of Queenscove**: Pale skin, emerald eyes, hair almost as black as Adalia's. She has learnt to use a Yamani mask over her feelings, although she cannot seem to keep it in check while around Adalia


	4. Teaching the Boys

**Chapter 4: Teaching the boys**

Adalia groaned as she returned to consciousness. Trying to decide what had woken her, she caught a faint sound coming from the left side of her room, through the wall.

Cursing, she forced herself out of bed, pulled on some fresh training clothes, tied up her hair and stomped out of her room. Knocking loudly on the door to the room from which the noise was coming, she tapped her foot, impatient.

"Who the hell gets up at this un-godly hour and makes noise?" She angrily muttered to the closed door as she heard the occupant scrambling to open it.

As the occupant opened it, Adalia was surprised to see a rumpled Kula brandishing what she recognised to be a glaive at her throat. Adalia raised one eyebrow, a questioning look on her face.

Kula quickly lowered the glaive and said suspiciously "what are you doing up at this hour?"

Adalia wrung her hands and accidentally yelled furiously "WHAT AM _I_ DOING UP?" Then, hearing the disgruntled sounds from all the other rooms, she lowered her voice, her anger still red hot, "what am _I_ doing up? YOU are the one who woke me up with all your gods curst noise!" She crossed her hands over her chest waiting for Kula to answer.

Much to her astonishment, Kula burst into quiet giggles and pulled her into the room. "You sound exactly like Alanna when she losses her temper!" She finally managed to say.

Adalia just stood there, tapping her foot, one eyebrow raised. Her face returning to normal, Kula said composedly, "I am practising my glaive. How did you hear it? I haven't been hitting anything! This has never woken any of the boys! Gods, you must have the hearing of a bat!"

Adalia quietly mused '_not a bat…'_ quickly banishing those thoughts, she decided to continue on with anger, "OK. So you didn't expect me to have good hearing. But why did you deem it necessary to press that thing to my throat?"

Kula responded, "Oh. In my first week of page training the boys broke in and destroyed my room, and the mean ones are always trying to break in so as to try to beat me up. So I find it useful to be prepared when someone tries to burst in."

Adalia nodded her head, her anger abating. She suddenly looked mischievous. "Hey, Kula, could you teach me how to use that weapon?"

Kula nodded and went over to retrieve a spare glaive for Adalia.

For the next few hours before breakfast, Kula instructed Adalia in the basics of the glaive.

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The two girls trekked down to the mess hall together. They had struck up a friendship – Kula's own brand of disguising her emotions intrigued Adalia, as did her own Player's acting amuse Kula.

At breakfast, the boys dutifully trekked in. As soon as they saw Adalia, they started towards her, muttering curses, angry that she had woken them. As soon as they got near enough to see the steely glint in Adalia's eyes, they quickly turned back to pick seats as far away from her as possible. That is, all except for the boys they had talked to last night.

A rumpled looking Nathan, brown eyes annoyed, slumped down across from Adalia, and was joined by Dameon. A disgustingly happy Charlie dropped into the seat next to Adalia and gave her a small bow, and exclaimed "Oh thankyou, Adalia, for giving us a first hand experience of your temper, which must rival the Lioness's in ferocity."

Adalia raised her head and fluttered her eye lashes at him, "why thankyou, young sir. I am pleased and honoured that you have noticed. I would just like to caution you against messing with me."

"With that temper, I think you will be safe." Daniel put in dryly.

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After breakfast, the pages went to their lessons, mostly conducted by boring Mithran priests. After first proving she could read and write, the priest in charge of that particular subject gave Adalia a stack of work to do, as did the mathematics teacher. Luckily, Adalia had inherited her mother's own rapid mind, so the work was not so much difficult as dreadfully boring.

The morning started to pick up as Adalia noticed that some boys in the back; a large redhead, a mousy-looking boy and a bazhir boy with a large nose - seemed to be glancing towards her and Kula.

Concentrating her crow hearing, she managed to catch "ok. On the count of three…"

Forewarned, Adalia kept her eyes subtly focused on those three, as they chewed pieces of paper. _Ok. These boys want to spit stuff at us. How lovely. Can't have this now, can I?_ She picked up a small wooden ruler, and as the tiny missiles flew through the air, she used her fast crow reflexes to block only those that were actually going to hit her or Kula. This was done so fast that no one who wasn't watching closely would even notice what she was doing.

She smiled satisfactorily at the frustrated looks on the boy's faces. Throughout that lesson they continued to try to hit them, and she continued to ensure that they failed miserably.

At the bell went that signalled the end of the class, she stood up yawning and left the room. She almost burst out laughing at the astonished look on the boy's faces as they saw the large piles of spit balls around her desk, and at that exact moment the priest decided to check the floor.

She sighed satisfactorily as his furious yells followed the pages on the way to lunch.

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"How did you do that?" demanded the ever-curious Kaden as they all took their seats.

"Do what?" She asked, allowing interest to creep into her features, to confuse the boy.

"Stop all those spit balls." Cut in Charlie. Adalia looked up to see them all staring at her. _Oh damn. I swore to myself that they would not find out I have certain abilities, and I have blown it all to stop spitballs._

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Yes you do." Kula was looking at Adalia strangely. "Last year, every single lesson, no matter what I did, I always left that class covered in spit balls. I even saw volleys of them flying across the room today. How did you manage to get us both out of there clean?"

Looking around, she saw that they were not inclined to be distracted from this subject.

Silently Adalia reached into the pile of papers she had collected from her first morning of lessons. She sighed as she presented them with her ruler. They just looked at it quizzically, and she turned it over. They gasped as they saw a lot of spitballs stuck to one side of the ruler.

"How…" began Kaden.

Adalia noticed those same three boys having one last shot at them, and she blocked all of the missiles, and then presented the others with the ruler.

"That explains that then." Daniel said quietly. "How are you so fast?"

"That I won't answer. Honestly, you should leave a girl a few tricks." Stated Adalia, falling back into her teasing manner. She quickly changed the subject and by the time lunch was over, she was relatively convinced that she had managed to divert their attentions.

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Lord Padraig stood up and barked, "Ok _girls_ it's time to get your muscles pounded. Everyone out. Before we even let you near a staff you are going to run the wall that circles the palace _and_ the out buildings." At this, everyone groaned, but none complained as they excited the hall and followed Lord Padraig towards the gates.

As they were running, Adalia joined her group of friends and remarked, "he said _girls_ like it was some kind of insult!" the others looked at Adalia and saw that she was furious.

"_I_ am going to show him that sometimes a _girl_ can be the worst competition he can ever have!" At this she sped off, surprisingly fast.

The group stared after her, and Charlie managed to say, "do you think she even remembers how _long_ this wall is?"

"Probably not." Kula responded.

"Do you think there is a limit to that temper?" Nathan enquired.

"No." They all said, and then laughed as their eyes followed the girl who was sprinting up to, and then passing, Lord Padraig who prided himself on constantly being the only one in any group of youthful pages that joined him to run the entire wall, and always finishing first.

The pages looked on as they, running at a constant speed, ran out of breath and slowed even more.

To be fair, they were laughing so much at the struggling Lord Padraig, who at first had assumed that Adalia would quickly run out of breath, had made the decision to speed up as it became apparent that she did not seem to slow. It was an amusing sight, to say the least.

They laughed even harder as they saw that Adalia seemed to be very much at ease, and that she was goading the man by always running the exact same distance away from him; no matter if he managed to speed up, the girl would perfectly match that and continue running a few meters ahead of him.

As their group became slower and slower, they looked on amazed at the fact that the girl seemed impervious to the fact that she must have ran miles, the group was almost half of the way around the wall.

_Lord Padraig will learn not to insinuate things about girls!_ Adalia thought to herself as she continued to run around the wall. She was annoyed at Lord Padraig, but also at herself, because she may as well have plastered a sign on her forehead telling everyone she was different. This notion was confirmed as she sprinted past the guards on the wall; as they first saw her, they looked at her oddly, and upon spotting Lord Padraig out of breath grimly running behind her, trying to catch up to her, they burst out into incredulous laughter.

_No doubt no one has managed to knock this gasbag off his perch_. Adalia thought bitterly.

Nearing the two-thirds mark of completing the circuit of the wall, she began to sink into her running, and out of her temper. Relaxing a bit, she ignored the struggling man and smiled at all the guards she passed, waving to them. She heard a huge eruption of giggles from behind her, and she turned to be jogging backwards, not slowing down an iota.

Too late did she realise that smiling and waving was not the expected response from a page that had been forced to run a very long way, and at the same time that Lord Padraig would probably take this as an insult.

_Oh well. That will be an added bonus._ She thought grimly. _After all, he can't exactly punish me for enjoying a run._ She shrugged and turned back to face the rest of her run.

Little did she realise that the guards started to point her out to the nobles who happened to be strolling around the gardens. They all thought that this was brilliant. A page, the Lioness's granddaughter in fact, was in the process of spectacularly defeating Lord Padraig, reducing him to a spluttering walk.

Alanna and Jon, who just happened to be discussing business on the wall, heard the gossip before they saw the girl, violet eyes blazing, black hair flying out behind her as she sprint up to them.

Blatantly realising who Jon was, Adalia stopped and bowed, and said quite pleasantly, "Good afternoon, your Majesty, Grandma." Then she glanced behind her and started running again, having spotted the others come around the bend.

Alanna and Jon stood there shocked as they saw the condition of the others that were supposed to be running with her. They were all breathing heavily, most of them clutching their sides.

When they saw the two, they seemed to be in such a haze of exhaustion that they could only wave and continue doggedly running along the wall.

Jon turned to Alanna and said calmly "Adalia wasn't even sweating."

Alanna glanced in the direction of the running girl, and nodded in agreement. "I think we will need a much larger wall to exhaust that one, Jon."

With this, they both broke out laughing, and continued on their way.

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Seeing the end of the wall, Adalia broke out into earnest running (or at least what a human would consider speed) and sprinted the home stretch, then quickly glanced around to check that the coast was clear before leaping up to sit on the arch above the door leading into the castle.

She knew she didn't _have_ to do this, but she felt that if she was going to be punished for some little thing down the track because of this event, she might as well rub salt into the wounds. At least she wouldn't have to pretend to be out of breath; the others would just assume she had enough rest before they caught up.

A few minutes later, she glimpsed the motley group of pages and the one man struggling to complete the whole track running.

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Their breath hard in their throats, the pages were finally nearing the end of the wall. As they reached the door that led into the castle, they realised that they could not see Adalia. But at the moment, the only thing that mattered was breathing.

An extremely irritated Lord Padraig had other plans, "ADALIA. WHERE ARE YOU?" He shouted, his cry ringing throughout the palace grounds.

"Right here, my lord."

The pages and Lord Padraig froze at the closeness of her voice, and looked around. They could not see where she was, although she sounded to be right next to them.

"Ah, I'm up here." Adalia said almost apologetically. At this, the entire gathering below slowly lifted their heads at exactly the same time. Adalia almost laughed at the look on Lord Padraig's face.

"What…how…when…" was all the shocked man could utter. The pages seemed to forget their exhaustion as they took in this unique sight. They all were looking around to see how the hell she had managed to get up there. There was at least a four-meter drop, and no way to climb up.

She was stretched out, looking the image of being totally relaxed and contented. She was propped up on one elbow, one leg dangling over the edge. She was staring at Lord Padraig idly.

Trying to get the upper hand, Lord Padraig realised that there was no easy way for her to get down. Suddenly much more confidant, he said "Well hello Adalia, nice of you to wait up." Adalia nodded at this, silently accepting his statement. He turned an even deeper red.

"Fine. Tell me how you plan to get down, or better yet, show me. We are moving to the practise courts momentarily." Sure that he had caught her out, he allowed a triumphant smile to creep onto his face.

Adalia just sighed, "Do I have to? I was enjoying the breeze."

This was the last thing he had expected to hear, but he noted that she didn't seem overjoyed at the prospect of getting down. "Yes. Now, if you please."

Adalia just shrugged gracefully, sat up, and jumped off.

The others just stared at her as if she was mad as she landed on the ground safely. They kept looking all the way up to where she had just been, and then to her, standing safely upon the ground in front of them.

Seeing all of their looks, she rolled her eyes, "You'd think you never saw someone survive a small drop."

They just gaped, and Adalia could almost hear all of their minds stuck on processing her dismissal of her leap as a 'small drop.' Oh the hilarity of the situation.

Lord Padraig visibly collected himself and addressed all the pages, "uh, good. Now that we are all done with that little run, lets get on with the staff straining." The pages all groaned and slowly followed him, furtively glancing at the satisfied smile plastered over Adalia's face as she joined her group of friends.

"That'll learn him not to insult girls, because if he does, I can just point out that he was beaten by one!" Adalia triumphantly whispered to her friends.

They looked at her, and she noted a new element of respect in their eyes, as well as a touch of awe, which she was not so comfortable with. Then they all shook their heads, and Charlie commented dryly, "Remind me not to get on your bad side. You're crazy when you have something to prove!"

Adalia just rolled her eyes and continued on.

Lord Padraig showed the first year pages the beginning drills of staff fighting, and had them repeat it incessantly. Adalia was paired with one the boys that had pathetically failed to hit her with spit balls earlier in the day. He was the tall bazhir with a large nose. She discovered his name was Taj ibn Nazir, and she was on the lookout the whole lesson for a repeat of his ill feelings towards her.

Sure enough, as soon as Lord Padraig turned his back, he started to hit harder. He kept contact with her staff and attempted to use his superior height and weight to force her out of line. Adalia, smirking a little, just used a small amount of her true strength to quickly shove **him** out of place, and he confusedly fell back, just as Lord Padraig turned around. The man turned red and barked for him to get back into place.

He stared at her for the rest of the lesson, trying to work out where she had gotten the strength to do that from, or if he had imagined it.

The red haired boy who had been conspiring with Taj to hit her with spit balls, whose name was Dale of Nond, was the next to try to get her. As Lord Padraig moved down to the farthest point in the line, he 'lost his grip' on his staff, and Adalia noticed it spinning towards her.

_Humph. You would think they would be a little more creative – and subtle in their attempts_ she mused. This did not worry her an iota. Acting like she had all the time in the world, she snatched it out of the air and slugged it into a very large tree by the yards. She had seen – and done – much more dangerous things than stop a staff.

Lord Padraig turned around and saw the staff spin into the tree. He swept his gaze over the line of pages, and was somewhat disappointed to see that it was Dale who had lost his staff, instead of one of the girls.

The pages giggled as they watched Dale climb slowly up to retrieve his staff. While he was still in the tree, the bell rang, indicating that they had to move on to their hand-to-hand combat lessons. They moved out, leaving Dale stuck up the tree. No one seemed concerned.

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As they all lined up, a tall Yamani man and an old woman approached them. The man announced himself the Shang Horse, and the woman the Shang Wildcat. Yet again they splint off and began to learn the basics of this type of fighting.

Adalia learned fast, and found it hard not to use all of her strength to fight. Sure, she had pretty much given herself up as unusual to the other pages, but not too much so. The only thing that she found useful was that while all the other pages were exhausted, she was relatively fresh, having much more stores of energy. She was polite and let the boys throw her, although while the others gained bruises, she did not.

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After dinner, her group of friends gathered in Nathan's rooms and got to work on the piles they had gained from the morning. Adalia could not wait to have the riding lessons tomorrow; she would be able to ask the horse Alanna had gotten her its name. (She could not speak to animals like Daine did, but in the way each animal could talk to one another)

As she commented that she was tired, the others decided it was time to go to bed as well. As she was heading towards her rooms along with Kula, Adalia stopped dead.

Kula, noticing the stop, stopped as well, and silently asked Adalia what was wrong, but looking at her.

Adalia gestured to the floor, and Kula was shocked to see a large pile of what looked suspiciously like oil. Adalia silently took Kula's arm as they skirted the pool, and they entered their separate rooms.

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Next chapter: Discovery

**Disclaimer:** Yet again, I am not Tamora Pierce.

I hope you liked this chapter. It was a little long, but I couldn't resist making it so. The next chapter should be good. Please rate and review


	5. Discovery

**Chapter 5: Discovery**

The next morning when Adalia was woken up by Kula's practise, she only allowed herself one groan before she went to learn the glaive.

The two girls practised until the bell for breakfast rang, at which time they walked with the boys, who were in varying degrees of wakefulness.

At breakfast Lord Padraig informed them that yesterday they hadn't attended all of their classes, as some of the teachers were absent. Today they were to do reading and writing and maths, but for a shorter period, so they could go to a magic class, and then the battle history class.

The morning passed quickly, and Adalia soon found herself going to a magic class for the 'un-Gifted' while some of the pages – including Dameon and Kula - went to learn their Gift.

She was seated next to Charlie when Numair – only one of the most powerful mages of the day – walked in. It seemed he would be taking the class, but all he did was look at them all.

When he spotted Adalia, he stopped in shock, mouth wide open. Somehow Adalia did not like that look. As the old man who was to teach this class walked in the door, forced to squeeze past the tall mage, Numair seemed to come back to reality.

Numair addressed the teacher, "Vern, would you mind if I borrowed Adalia for this lesson?"

The teacher looked up at him suspiciously and said hesitantly, "ok."

Numair gestured to Adalia from the door, telling her to follow him. She got up and waved to the pages that were staring after me.

Adalia tried to keep her face straight as she followed the mage through the palace. He led her to his rooms and shooed her in before him.

While Adalia took a seat, she saw him throw magic at the door and cracks, something that would stop eavesdroppers.

Numair, satisfied that no one could overhear their conversation, turned to her. "Just what _are_ you? I have never seen your kind of magic before – it's not really even magic. Your human essence has an animal's essence running through it! But it doesn't look like it is poisoning the essence, it looks like it is strengthening it!" He stopped and forced himself to sit down across from her. "So? Can you shed light on this situation?"

Adalia, annoyed that all this man did to find her out was look at her, crossed her arms and decided to go with the blunt option. Voice tinged with anger, she said "My Da was a crow, so you could say I am half a crow."

Numair just stared at her. It seemed her explanation had been one of the last he had been expecting. He was reduced to repeating the basics of her sentence… "Your Da…was a crow?"

"Yes."

"Your Da was a crow."

"You already said that." Adalia pointed out, and then decided to get comfortable in her chair – it would seem as if Numair wanted a larger explanation.

"How?"

She rolled her eyes and explained that in the Copper Isles the crows and raka are cousins, and that they could switch into one or the other, although the raka have largely forgotten how to do it, unless in a life threatening situation – then they may change to a crow to live. Then she said that her Da had been a crow and changed into a man to be with her mother.

After Numair calmed down, he said "Why don't crows change into people all of the time?"

"They don't like it, unless out of curiosity. They changed to help Ma with the rebellion and became soldiers though."

"Fine. So what can you do?"

Adalia looked at him appraisingly. She was not sure exactly what to say. Numair, noticing her hesitation said, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. I just want to know."

Adalia could see no obvious lie on his face, so she put her hands behind her head and listed: "I am extremely strong and fast. I can run for ages without getting tired; that was how I found it so easy to sprint the whole of the wall – (she then added thoughtfully-) although he was really slow, I could have finished it much faster – I can change into a crow, and talk to animals in the way one talks to another, and I can jump really high."

Numair just stared at her, flabbergasted that this little girl with purple eyes was matter-of-factly listing incredible abilities that were common to her. Finally he managed to splutter, "Exactly how fast?"

She considered him, and then said in a low voice, "I can catch arrows."

He raised his eyebrows "that is something I would love to see. But how do I know that you are telling the truth bout being half crow?"

Adalia just rolled her eyes at him, "you, a _mage_, can't think of a way to tell if someone is telling the truth?"

He took this as permission to cast a truth spell on her. The only problem was that it did not settle. It streamed off the girl like she was not there.

Adalia, who was watching Numair as he threw the spell, waited for him to discover to spell wouldn't stick. She sighed as he looked at her questioningly, and answered the question on his face, "I am half _crow_, remember? You can't cast a truth spell on an animal."

He hit his head, clearly thinking himself an idiot. But he also realised that this answered his question faster than any words; she had an animal's immunity to human spells.

He talked to her for the rest of that class, and by the end they had struck up a friendship. He let her out of the rooms as the bell went that signalled it was lunch time, and she ran at lightning speed in order to get to the meal on time – Numair's rooms were almost on the opposite side of the castle.

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After lunch the pages went straight into staff training, and then into hand-to-hand combat. After this Lord Padraig told them to go to the stables and retrieve their mounts.

They all jogged down to the stables, and the first years (more had joined them this morning) that did not have a mount struggled to pick the best of those available.

The older boys watched Adalia from the corner of their eyes, but apparently determined that she already had a mount, and left her as she approached the beautiful chestnut.

The mare neighed to her in greeting, and she had a quick conversation with it. She wanted Adalia to name her, and she was so persistent that Adalia wracked her brains to come up with a name befitting such a graceful mare.

Just as she finished putting on the bridle, Adalia's face lit up in delight, and she informed the mare that her name was to be Anika, which meant quite literally beautiful and graceful in Yamani.

She slung herself into the saddle and trotted out, following Charlie to the place where they would have mounted lessons. Throughout the lesson she talked silently to Anika, and by the end, they were great friends and companions.

At the start of the lesson, Lord Padraig had been hopeful that maybe this would be the one, the lesson that he could revel in the failings of Adalia.

This hope had been banished as soon as he saw her on the beautiful chestnut. She seemed to be an extension of her horse. He silently cursed the girl for being a natural at most things, able to remember drills with her body and mind, and talented at book learning. He would just have to wait to punish her when the boys fought her.

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It would seem that he did not have to wait long, as after dinner Adalia was making her way to her room alone to retrieve her books when five boys rounded the corner. She only recognised three of them – Dale, Seamus and Taj.

They looked furious as she greeted them cheerfully. She almost laughed as they started cursing her and calling her 'unpleasant' names; to put it mildly. They started forward at once.

_I can teach them once and for all not to mess with me_._ I am not going to be polite and let them injure me_. Grinning wickedly, she grabbed Taj and lobbed him into one of the boys she did not recognise. They hit the floor with a loud smack that must have been audible a fair way away. She quickly knocked the other boys out, punching them in the nose. She was careful not to break their noses; she couldn't have them going to a healer now, could she?

Hearing people running, she used her speed to grab her books and quickly slip away. She arrived shortly at Daniel's room. The others were already seated around the table, door open due to Kula's presence. She slowly walked in and yawned, then asked Daniel if he would help her with maths. He chuckled and said only if she would help him with a poem he was doing for the priest in charge of that subject.

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In the morning, Adalia woke to the darking Shard nuzzling her face. Cracking one eyelid, she snapped "what Shard?"

"Aly want talk to Ady" the darking squeaked.

Waking up fully, she sat up and let the darking pool in her lap. She could see her mother's face, and realised at that moment how much she had missed her.

Mother and daughter talked for an hour, and by the time that Adalia stumbled out of bed and washed the sleep out of her eyes she was content and ready to face the trials of being a female page.

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Lazily wandering into the hall for breakfast, she had to employ all of her control not to burst into laughter at the coloured appearance of the five boys that had set on her last night.

"Do you know what happened to those five?" Kaden asked her as she sat down next to her friends, who were already eating sleepily.

"Why should I know? I should be the one asking _you_." Adalia couldn't resist needling him.

"They were caught last night, after having 'fallen.' The strange thing is they are all 'friends' and would not be fighting each other. They have to clean all of the armour in the armoury every night for two bells until they finish."

Adalia looked impressed "wow that is a big punishment."

"Yes." Charlie agreed as he joined them, disgustingly happy to be up that early in the morning.

The boys looked at Kula and Adalia, guessing that one of them would be the likely target for such boys.

"Hey, don't look at me. I didn't know about this until I saw their appearance." She put her hand on her chin and frowned conspiratorially, "I wish I knew who did it."

Having ditched the idea of Kula fighting them, they all looked at Adalia. She gave them look-for-look.

"Do I look like I have been fighting?" She demanded. "Surely if I was able to fight off that many _experienced_ pages, I would at least have just as colourful an appearance."

Reluctantly they agreed, and they all spent the rest of breakfast discussing who might have fought the boys.

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Next chapter: Goddess.

**Disclaimer**: I am not Tamora Pierce – Need I keep reminding you?

I hope you enjoyed this, please rate and review.


	6. Goddess

**Chapter 6: Goddess**

The next few weeks passed moderately peacefully for Adalia. It seemed that Adalia's lesson to those five boys had stopped any future plans of physical assaults, but they kept on verbally attacking both girls; although in Adalia's case they did it very quietly.

Their reluctance to abuse Adalia pleased her thoroughly. She kept an ear out for attacks planned on Kula, and quickly turned up (seemingly accidentally) at any place the boys ambushed her, with hilarious consequences. The most popular consensus to her appearance was to run away as fast as possible.

These regular happenings were a favourite topic of discussion for her little group, as well as the pranks that Nathan and Charlie pulled off; sometimes getting off scott free, and other times being caught. Adalia regularly joined in, but her job was to divert any unwanted attention, wether that be servants or nobles.

The lessons became progressively harder, and as she struggled to get all of her bookwork completed. When she gained extra punishment work, it made it even harder to finish all of it, which inevitably led to _more_ work. She just stood in the classes and accepted all of her punishment work, which was what all pages were expected to do.

She became extremely bored as the weeks passed into months; the practical work was interesting, but a large part of her day was occupied by the homework. She almost wished that the boys would make another attempt to pound her, just so she could see some deviation to her monotonous schedule.

Excepting her boredom, she started secretly changing into her crow form and flying around the palace grounds. This led to interesting eavesdropping, and she put together a picture of the direction of the palace gossip and which people were 'involved.' She also had the birds-eye view of the pranks that were played between the men of the Own and the Riders. She even happened upon a kind of complaint group of those nobles that were conservative. Much of her entertainment came from convincing the crows to drop small missiles of dung on them whenever they met outside.

One night Numair and Daine caught her out.

They were strolling along some paths near a popular fountain, and Numair just happened to look at her. His eyes widened and he laughed. Without telling Daine, he gestured for Adalia to perch on his arm.

Interested in what would come of this, she glided down and alighted on his arm.

Daine noticed the crow flapping down, and she glanced at Numair, "Last time I checked, you didn't have wild magic. How did you get that crow to perch on your arm?" She stretched out her arm to Adalia, who ignored it and hopped onto Numair's head.

Numair laughed and said, "Is she really a crow?"

Daine quickly opened her mouth, meaning to say 'yes, have you checked your eyesight lately?' When Numair cut across her and said, "Look _closely_." She gave him a reproachful look and closed her eyes.

Opening them, she was now able to see Adalia's unique essence; the human and animal intertwined.

An astonished Daine just stood there, and she asked Numair, "What _is_ she?" She was distracted as she heard a soft female voice brake into her thoughts, "Good evening, Lady. I am Adalia of Pirate's Swoop."

With this communication, she suddenly remembered all that Numair had told her a month ago, that one of the pages was half a crow.

She was looking at Adalia, who gave her a crow-shrug and addressed Daine again; "You must excuse me if I don't shape shift back, I do not consider it fun to be caught in the middle of the palace grounds naked." Her voice was teasing, and Daine broke into soft giggles, remembering her own experiences with that drawback.

Numair was looking at them both expectantly, and Adalia addressed Daine again, "Could you tell him I say hello?"

Daine related the message, and Numair said hello as well.

She sat on Numair's hair for a while, talking to both of them. Throughout this exchange she subtly messed up the vain man's hair.

They all heard crows bawling in the distance, and Adalia cocked her head. She let out an answering caw, loud enough that both the humans jumped, and then quickly took flight off of Numair's hair, remarking to Daine that it sounded like mischief was afoot. When she was out of reach, she turned to hover on the spot, and mischievously told Daine, "Thanks for the chat. Tell Numair his hair looks nice."

Daine related this comment, and they looked confused. Out of reflex they 'looked' (Numair touched, Daine looked) at his hair, and Adalia was rewarded with a half-hearted shout of anger directed at her, as Numair discovered the condition of it.

Cackling to herself, she joined the other crows. There seemed to be a rather large disturbance. They were all circling around the tallest woman she had ever seen. Her skin was perfectly white, setting off slanting emerald eyes and full red lips. Her hair was unbound, falling loosely below her shoulders in black, snaky locks. Adalia was so surprised to see this woman, whose face was too perfect to be quite real, that she lost her grip on her crow form.

She just managed to land on two feet, her hair cascading over her face. She quickly became conscious of the fact that she was naked, and at this the woman smiled at her, and gave Adalia her own cloak.

Adalia swiftly wrapped he cloak around her body, thinking rapidly, trying to remember if she had ever seen this woman before.

"No, my daughter. We have never met." The woman's voice was husky, and Adalia could only think that it sounded like a strange mixture of waves crashing against the shore and rapid winds whistling through canyons. Knowledge struck as she remembered her mother telling her of her own experiences with the Goddess.

Adalia addressed the goddess, thinking it a good idea to be polite, "Good evening, Goddess."

The woman just waved her hand and said, as if continuing an earlier conversation, "I am pleased with your progress."

Adalia blinked confusedly, "Progress in what, Mother?"

The Goddess caught the confusion in Adalia, and she carefully continued, "Your own self-imposed task; to stop the injustices caused by the Conservatives. Your own talents will impress them into changing their stubborn ways. There are already only a small amount left, you will only need to give them a push in the right direction."

The Goddess looked at Adalia closely, seeming to want something from her. Adalia realised that she wanted her word to try to complete the task, and resonded, "It would be my pleasure, Mother." She then gave a little bow, very conscious of the fact that she was only covered by a cloak.

The Mother nodded her head majestically, and replied, "So mote it be."

The Goddess reached out her hand and drew Adalia's purple eyes to meet her own dazzling green.

After what seemed and age, she let go of the girl, who hardly noticed when her presence faded into a memory. Her head was spinning from what she had seen in those eyes.

She sank until she was sitting on the ground. Once her head stopped spinning, she glanced around at her surroundings. She was in the Royal Forest. Once she had made that observation, she also became aware of her nakedness. She forced herself to her feet and took a large leap into the air, changing back into a crow before touching back down.

Somehow she made it back through her window and slumped into bed after putting on a night shift.

Just before slipping into sleep, she thought absurdly '_and I wanted something to happen.'_

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**Disclaimer**: I am not Tamora Pierce.

I hope you liked that chapter! Keep reading, I promise much more fun!

Next Chapter: New Lessons


	7. New Lessons

**Chapter 7: New Lessons**

Adalia woke up surprisingly early the next morning. It was so early that it was even before Kula started her morning glaive practise; which had become a ritual for them both.

She forced herself out of bed and stretched. She was thankful for this chance to contemplate the events of last night.

Adalia quickly threw on some practise clothes and exited her room, thinking that a run would do her well.

Adalia thought as she ran. For her, running was a time to relax; a time that she felt nothing could touch her. When she lost herself to the rhythm of her run, she turned her mind to working out the Goddess's words.

The Goddess had wanted her to convince the Conservatives to change their minds and accept the new direction that Tortall was taking. But she had also said that there wouldn't be much need for a great deal of prodding, as by just being there changed their views.

Adalia tried to work out the reasons that the Mother would deem it necessary to speed up the process of converting those hardheads into progressives, and a very interesting thought came to her. _She must be wary of a repeat of what happened in the Copper Isles; she would not want to loose more land to other gods!_

_Oh well, I was only breaking in the boys to the idea that girls as pages was not bad, -_she grinned wolfishly - _but it seems the Mother has expanded my playing field_.

The only plan that she could think of was to simply accustom the stubborn men to her presence by introducing herself and regularly proving them wrong by excelling at her lessons. She would teach them to think females unfit for combat!

_There must be something particularly special about me that the Goddess would bother showing herself and extracting a promise to extend my attentions beyond my peers. _Adalia thought, irritated.

_After all, there has already been Kel and Kula before me, not to mention the Lioness, who was successful in opening the door to female knights in the first place. The problem is that the girls are afraid of being seen unwomanly, and of course there is the trouble of the extra problems faced by the girls; what with usually normal and level-headed men irrationally set against them. _

After observing this thought, she could only hope that the Mother did not expect her to change the girl's minds at being seen as marriageable. She snorted in derision; _I don't have any plans for marriage, and I can only hope that I convince the boys of that as well. Just as well I am much too young to even be considering it, even if I happened to be a court lady._

Hearing the bell ring, Adalia was pulled out of her reverie. Glancing about, she spotted an old man that was part of the small Conservative group strolling along the wall that she found herself on. She ambled up to him, "Good morning, Lord…"

"Clearwater." The man replied strongly, not unpleasantly. Then he turned to face her and she caught a barely concealed scowl flit cross his features. "What are you doing here?" He questioned briskly.

Knowing that she had to be polite in the face of the man's rudeness, she said pleasantly, "Just going for a morning run, Lord Clearwater." Before he could question her further, she bowed politely and said; "I must be off, but thankyou for your time, my lord." She smiled pleasantly at him again and ran off.

_That was a good morning's work._ Adalia thought to herself. _He didn't know what to do in the face of my politeness. I am far from convincing him, but still, a nice start._ Adalia sighed to herself; _changing the way people think is such a slow task._

Adalia joined Kula to learn the glaive, making a flimsy excuse as to why she was late.

That morning Kula watched Adalia following a moderately hard pattern dance that she had taught her. She couldn't help marvelling at the quick progression of her friend's abilities. Once one got to know Adalia; you could see past her Player's acting to her amazing determination and intelligence. Once she had her mind set on doing something, she wouldn't stop until she had done it.

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That morning the lessons progressed as usual. Once lunch had finished, however, Lord Padraig stood up, and waved the older pages to go on to their sword practise, which they had while the younger pages were supervised doing extra practise on their weakest combat or weapons training.

Once they had all left, he addressed the five first year pages - Adalia, Dameon, Kaden and two others. "Okay. We are all going to do something different today, and we will continue doing this for the rest of your years as pages. It is time for you to learn the art of fencing."

The pages all stood up a little straighter; they had been waiting for this. "You will not be let near a sword, however, until you learn to craft one." At this, he gestured to a large man with muscles like wire cables. "For this, Seamus Briskly, one of our palace smiths, has volunteered to teach you the basics."

The man nodded and scrutinised their faces, although he didn't say anything. Lord Padraig continued, "I hope you have the patience." He bowed to the man and the pages, and then stomped off.

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The pages spent the next three weeks with the weaponsmith, first learning how to put a keen edge on a bade and how to keep a fire at the same heat for an hour or more, and then moving on to make rough practise swords. Once they had all produced a fit sword, Lord Padraig had them gather in the inside training courts at the time that they had formally been spending in the weapon-smiths.

Pacing up and down the line, he surveyed their efforts and pronounced them acceptable. He then cleared his throat and loudly said, "These practise swords are to stay be your side always. If I ever catch you, or are informed that you ever leave your rooms without them, you will receive punishment work mucking out stalls in the stables. -" The pages winced – "This is not wrestling or tilting. You might go all of your lives without having to do those, when you are knights. However, you may safely bet you'll have to defend yourself – or someone else – with a sword at least once before you die."

The pages stood soberly at this, and waited for Lord Padraig to continue. He seemed to be waiting for something, and they saw what when Duke Gareth and Alanna entered and walked over to join him.

Lord Padraig cleared his throat again and said to the newcomers, "It is nice to see you, Your Grace, Lioness."

They greeted him, and turned to the pages. Gary said, "Now, I have come to view your first lesson. I have a feeling it could be entertaining." He added, a thin smile creeping across his face. "You may be wondering what our Lioness is doing here. She has expressed her boredom, and has volunteered to help teach you the art of swordsmanship."

The pages just stood there, astonished. The finest sword master of all of Tortall - and possibly the world - would be teaching them.

Alanna just cackled at the looks on their faces "oh, you are happy now, but wait until after this session."

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Her words were proved brutally true over the first weeks of their swords practise. They first learnt how to quickly draw a sword from its sheath; something that they rapidly discovered much harder than appearance would have it.

After a while, all of the pages started training together: new and old, under the precise eye of Alanna and Lord Padraig.

It was around then that she turned 11 years old, but she didn't tell anyone – she did not want a fuss.

---------------------------------------------

Adalia found herself enthralled by the complexity of wielding a sword. She found secluded places to practise her favourite disciplines – swordsmanship and tilting – for she could not seem too good to the training masters, it would be suspicious if she did everything perfectly.

The spot she chose for sword practise was something she just happened to come across while in crow form. It was a flat section of the roof of the palace that was large enough for one to practise the movements. The tricky bit was finding out how to access it in human form. She would open her third story window, quickly look around to check that the coast was clear, and then jump onto the roof and precariously climb across to her spot. From there, no one could see her, but she had a breath taking view of the palace.

It became her place to think, as well as her hiding place whenever Lord Padraig was on the warpath.

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Without noticing, the memory of the Goddess's visit faded from her thoughts as her first year as a page ended.

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Next Chapter: Break

I am NOT Tamora Pierce

Thanks so much to the people who left reviews!


	8. Free Time

**Chapter 8: Free Time**

The pages were released for three weeks to catch up with their parents, as was usual, and Adalia chose to stay with her Grandma and Grandpa in their suite of the palace.

After all of her jaunts outside throughout the year, she had gotten to know Numair and Daine as well as her own parents, so she jumped at the chance to have dinner with them and their children when Alanna and George asked her on the first evening of her release.

When the three knocked on the family's door, they were met with Numair bellowing, "Come on in, it's open!"

Adalia followed nervously in the wake of her grandparents; she had never visited them before, nor had she met their children. She was reassured as Daine smiled at her and said, "Long time no see, Adalia. I was beginning to think you had flown off to the Copper Isles."

Adalia smiled at this, and said, "Oh, no. I wouldn't go and deprive you of my shining presence."

This brought a giggle from all in the room, including a girl and boy who were lounging on chairs at the table.

She looked around the room, face carefully posed to look shocked, and put her hands to her heart, "You wound me forevermore."

She then went and took a seat at the table, next to the girl, who had long smoky brown hair and dancing sky blue eyes. She looked to be three years older than Adalia. She was also already showing signs of being a beauty, like her mother. Adalia crossed her arms in front of her chest and tried to look like she was pouting.

After she had stopped laughing, Daine gained enough composure to once again address Adalia. She pointed at first the girl, and then the boy "Adalia, this is Sarralyn and Rikash."

"Adalia, just call me Sarra." Sarra glared at her mother, "No one calls me Sarralyn."

"Yes, and please call me Rye." Rikash put in. Adalia shed her pouting pose and grinned at the two. She felt that they could be great friends.

She studied Rye. He looked to be tall for his age, with dark brown hair and stormy grey eyes, that were dancing with laughter.

As they all sat down to dinner, the three children got talking. "So. What are you guys doing here at the palace?" Adalia questioned.

"Now that's a story." Rye was piling his plate with food as he talked to Adalia. "We both have wild magic and the Gift. Although we are fully trained in both, our parents don't seem to trust us." He smiled crookedly at this, his eyes dancing.

Sarra snorted, "Us? They don't trust _you_." Rye raised his hands in acceptance and started shovelling food into his mouth.

Adalia was used to this behaviour, having spent the past year among the pages, but Sarra was not. She pointedly looked at Rye, "The food won't run away." She observed dryly.

"Just ignore him. I think boys have being grubs at the table in their genes." Adalia advised Sarra, and then raised an eyebrow at Rye. To his credit, he made an effort to slow down – fractionally.

Adalia and Sarra shared a knowing look and rolled their eyes at the exact same moment.

After dinner, the three sat talking – about Adalia's page training, the missions that Sarra and Rye went on with their parents, and finally about magic itself. The two were really curious about Adalia's lineage, and Adalia found that talking about her abilities actually soothed her nerves, thinking that stranger things are probably about Tortall, and she wouldn't be thought of as a freak if anyone found out.

They went on to talking about the exhilaration that came from being able to fly as a bird, which got them all wanting to actually go and do it. Almost bouncing, they went over to the adults. "Could we go flying?" They all asked at once.

They just laughed. Alanna said, "I don't see why not, if Daine and Numair say you can. When you're done, just go to your room, Adalia. We will bring your clothes back when we leave."

Adalia whooped and jumped out of the window, changing into crow form just before she was out, so her clothes fell back into the room. She flapped back down to the windowsill and cawed at the other two to get a move on.

All those left in the room laughed at her exaggerated exit, and Daine and Numair were accosted by the pleading looks from their children. "Get out of here!" Daine told them, and they changed shape; Sarra into a crow, and Rye into an eagle.

They both then flapped out of the window to join Adalia.

Adalia called a challenge to race and she got a head start, flapping in the direction of the tilting yards.

The others flew after her, and when Rye in his eagle shape shot passed them, Adalia sent to him, "show off! Make it fair and change into a crow!" Adalia heard Sarra's agreement, and Rye, looking sheepish switched into a crow.

It was getting darker, and the three started doing loop-de-loops, chasing each other around in circles. The most memorable moment was when Adalia, a natural trickster in her crow form, had Rye so confused at her weaving that he crashed into the tilting yard fence.

It was very late by the time Adalia, Rye and Sarra separated to go to bed. As she lay down, Adalia couldn't help but marvel at the feeling of freedom she had around those two, who knew of her abilities. _They are probably only accepting of me because they themselves have remarkable abilities_. Adalia thought to herself sadly. _Better to be normal_.

She went to sleep with a big grin on her face, having one last pleasant thought, _Ah, tomorrow I can FINALLY sleep in!_

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Not-so-early in the morning, Alanna and George were up and about. Alanna peeked into Adalia's bedroom and saw that the girl was still asleep. George crept up to be staring into the girl's room over his wife's head. Alanna looked up at George, a wicked grin building on her face.

George moved out of the way as Alanna went into the girl's washroom, not troubling to be quiet. Realising what she was doing, he quickly backed away from the room, thinking it would be better to be nowhere near when this happened, and he slipped out of the suite.

Alanna, purple eyes sparkling, was advancing on the girl that was tangled in her bed. She carefully tiptoed so she had the best shot possible. She would have rubbed her hands together in anticipation, but she did not want to spill any water out of the bucket; at least until she was sure it would hit its target.

With one last grin, she tipped the whole bucket of freezing cold water on Adalia's head.

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The first thing Adalia noticed as she woke up was that she was wet. And cold. She cracked an eyelid, and upon seeing Alanna waiting patiently for an explosion, she decided instead to turn over and go back to sleep.

As she had anticipated, Alanna, seeing that the girl was still obstinately refusing to wake up, shook her. "Adalia! Wake UP!!! I thought you would at least be angry with me for this wonderful awakening."

Adalia just groaned and mumbled, "Tis' too early in the mornin' to be angry."

"Ah, in that you are wrong, my dear. It's already 7 o'clock."

"Still too early." Adalia managed to mumble back. She was no morning person, and with the lack of Kula waking her up with the noise of practising her glaive, she intended to sleep as long as she wanted.

Alanna bodily yanked Adalia out of bed, and seeing that the girl was just wearing her clothes from the day before, picked up her boots and settled Adalia over her shoulder, thinking it was lucky that with her being a crow she was much lighter than would a normal girl be at her age.

Adalia was not worried by this development; in fact it pleased her. She went back to sleep.

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Being thrown unceremoniously on the ground of the practise courts abruptly woke Adalia again. This time she was confused. How had she managed to get here? Then she started as Alanna handed her shoes and practise sword over. Knowledge struck quickly as she felt her wet hair. Now that she was awake enough to care, she found that she was angry with Alanna.

"Who the hell wakes someone up in the morning with a bucket of water _and then_ carries them into the practise courts?!" She raged at Alanna.

Alanna just cackled and said "Me."

Adalia's face went red and she scowled at her grandmother. "And why could not just wake me up like a normal person?"

She had not realised that they had an audience. Knights that were practising on the courts, as well as a few nobles and soldiers who recognised the unmistakable signs that Alanna was going to the practise courts to spar had gathered. They could not believe that the girl dared to speak so bluntly with the Lioness, even though she was related. They all winced when Adalia said that to Alanna.

Alanna smiled at Adalia and said, "Well, little miss, I wanted you angry enough that you would spare _properly_ with me."

Adalia just smiled slyly at Alanna, and said tauntingly, "You will wish you hadn't."

Adalia quickly drew her blade at a speed almost too fast for the eyes to follow. Alanna just grinned. This was what she had been waiting for. This girl could be able to give her a run for her money; something that had not happened since she had faced Liam Ironarm all those years ago.

"Just wait one second." Alanna directed at Adalia, and then she turned to the building crowd. "GET OUT NOW!" She bellowed at them.

They all turned and ran out as fast as possible. Alanna then brought up a protective circle, which would block prying eyes – she knew that Adalia did not want to tell people about her abilities – yet.

Alanna brought her sword up to a guard position, and Adalia mirrored her movement. Alanna made the first move, quickly clearing the distance between them and cutting for the girl's middle. Adalia quickly blocked her and then attacked Alanna in turn.

They went on like this for ages, ferociously duelling back and forth. Both Alanna and Adalia collected some bruises from each other.

In the end, though, Alanna's far superior experience gave her the edge over Adalia, as she brought her sword to rest at Adalia's throat.

Adalia said 'I yield' conceding her defeat. She then flopped to the ground and pushed breath into her lungs, and observed Alanna do likewise. Adalia grinned up at Alanna, who grinned back.

"…Brilliant form, Adalia. I do think you will be the best, once we go on to teaching you more of the tricks of swordsmanship." This praise brought tears to Adalia's eyes, knowing that she could not get any better, not from the Lioness, whom she held in such high regard.

Alanna ignored the tears and handed Adalia a water bottle, "It was pretty bad of me to catch you half asleep in the morning, and you only being a first" - Adalia glared at Alanna, who laughed, then continued – "Sorry, _second_ year page. I just wanted to catch you _before_ you gained so much knowledge that I couldn't beat you – what with you being so fast and all."

Adalia just shook her head at this and said, "I am sorry that I used my abilities, Grandma."

Alanna just shook her head in turn and exclaimed, "Nonsense. Remember that I threw a bucket of cold water on you in the morning, while you were asleep. Oh, and I _was_ trying to make you."

Adalia grinned sheepishly at Alanna, but decided not to pursue the subject. They were both just lounging on the ground lazily when the protective circle around them shattered; broken by a black-coloured magic that Alanna recognised as Numair's. The man in question stormed toward them.

"Why the _hell_ did you stay here so long? Everyone thought you killed Adalia! It's just that we hadn't heard anything – but of course we wouldn't. It took _me_ forever to break through your gods curst circle, Alanna!" Numair practically yelled her.

Adalia and Alanna looked at each other, and broke into laughter at the mix of extreme worry and anger on Numair's face.

He purpled and yelled, "Do you think it's funny that we thought you had killed your granddaughter!?"

Adalia broke in and said, "The granddaughter thinks it's funny that you thought she _could_ kill her."

Numair just looked at each of them in helpless fury. Alanna sighed, "Numair calm down and stop being a worry wort. The worst I would have done would be to give her a few bruises."

"– Which you _did_" Adalia cut in. She looked satisfied with herself as she added, "I gave her a few bruises too."

Numair looked shocked at this, and looked more closely at each of them. He noticed that both did seem to have bruises. He was just astonished that Adalia seemed to have dealt as good as she got.

He went over to them and offered his hand to Alanna. Adalia noticed Rye behind Numair for the first time, and he offered his hand to her, which she took. She grinned crookedly up at him, then looked at Alanna and said, "May I _now_ go back to sleep grandma?"

Alanna considered Adalia for a long moment, and then grinned, "I _suppose_ –"

"–Good." Adalia cut across her and walked back in the direction of her rooms. Rye, standing for a moment in indecision, shrugged at Alanna and took off after Adalia.

Alanna, watching him follow the girl thought '_interesting_…'

Rye caught up with Adalia just as she went into the hall. He said, "I've got to say, you were amazing!"

Adalia, startled, turned around to look at him, "What do you mean?"

When Rye continued walking, she followed him, looking at him expectantly. "Your spar with the _Lioness_."

He emphasised _Lioness _and she looked at him closely, "You saw our match?"

He laughed as he saw the curious expression on her face. "Well, yes. I used my wild magic to sneak through, then went back out when you finished."

Adalia just shook her head at him.

"And besides – anyone will know that you did well, because you can actually still _stand _after sparring with her! I don't think anyone has managed to do that in years!"

"Well, _you_ know why I am like that, but please don't tell anyone else!" She looked pleadingly at him, but relaxed when his face sobered and her nodded, "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me and Sarra, for as long as you plan to keep it."

At this, they reached Adalia's door and they said goodbye.

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The next day, Alanna was called out on a mission, to go with some squads of the Own and the Riders to stop a man named Marcus Wood, who was apparently at large in Tortall, developing an underground slave network. Sarra went with her, to use the animals as spies to find the so-far illusive ringleader of the operation, not to mention free all the Tortallans unlucky enough to have been plucked from their homes.

George had left for Pirate's Swoop to see to his duties as the Whisper Man, which left Adalia alone in her grandparent's suite.

Alanna had asked Daine and Numair to look out for her, so she went to every meal in their rooms.

Adalia and Rye had great fun, changing into crows to goad all of the knights whenever they were bored, not to mention pull off a rather dangerous prank on Lord Padraig, which Rye had initially refused, but Adalia had 'convinced' him to take part. The man's hair was pink for a week, much to the two's pleasure, and Lord Padraig never found out who did it.

A day not long before she would have to relocate back to her room she had been assigned as a page, she was once again practising her sword on the rooftop. Her concentration broke as she saw a flock of crows say past, and she let out a big welcoming cry to them.

As they circled around and told her what was happening, one detached itself from the group and soared down to her.

"What are you doing here?" She asked it, annoyed that he had discovered her practise spot.

"Watching you practise. Gods how the hell did you get up here in human form?" Rye questioned her in turn.

"You know what I am, and what I can do. Stop being stupid and use your imagination." She informed him, starting up another drill, following the movements precisely.

"Yeah, but it's one thing to hear about, another to see." He said. She didn't respond, so he just sat there, watching her graceful movements as she practised.

"Do you want to go for a ride?" Adalia jumped a little; she had forgotten he was there. Grinning sheepishly as he looked at her in a you-better-be-more-careful way and responded, "sure."

At this she sheathed her sword and ran across the roof, jumping across gaps big and small, having to go longer to make the way to the stables. Rye watched her for a second and then flew off to his room to put on some clothes.

About ten minutes later she was impatiently waiting outside the stables with Anika.

She scowled at Rye when he eventually came out, leading a grey gelding that he called Diablo.

"Patience is a virtue." He teased.

"One I do not posses, so you better hurry up!" She retorted, and jumped onto her mare, asking her to walk.

Rye quickly swung his leg over Diablo and trotted to catch up.

They rode through the forest for over an hour, and Adalia challenged Rye to a race back. She was the fist to gallop into the palace grounds, and she stood up in the saddle, raising one hand in a whoop.

"I win, you slowpoke!" She triumphantly informed the boy.

"You cheated!"

"Did not!"

"Did!"

"Just because I had the sense to start as soon as I said go, while someone just waited there staring slack-jawed at my speed doesn't mean I cheated. You were just too dumb to go as soon as possible." She told him, tone persistent.

"I never agreed that you could say go, nor did I agree to a race! I was looking the other way when you said 'let's race back!' What was I supposed to do?" He argued.

She gave him a wolfish smile and then dismounted, leading Anika into the stables.

She carefully groomed Anika, chatting to the horse. She could hear Rye doing the same for Diablo, and she didn't wait for him to be done. She just looked into Diablo's stall, and catching Rye's stormy grey eyes, smiled and stuck her tongue out.

She made her way to bed, wishing that she did not have to return to the vigorous training the following day.

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**Disclaimer**: I am not Tamora Pierce.

Next Chapter: Camping

I hope you liked this chapter; it's pretty long but I didn't want to split it up. Please rate and review!


	9. Camping

**Chapter 9: Camping**

The next morning, Adalia actually woke up early (for once) and was putting the finishing touches on her packing when she heard a tentative knock on the door. "Come in." She called, not bothering to look up from hunting for her practise sword, which she could have sworn was in her room a moment ago.

"Hello." Adalia looked up at the voice, and scowled, "What? Has Daine sent a goodbye party?"

"More like a you-better-wake-up party." Rye retorted, eyes sparkling. "But I can see you are already awake."

At this Adalia just shrug and said sarcastically, "Oh really? How would I ever know without you saying so, my noble mage?" She turned back to the problem at hand, and started throwing clothes out of her bag.

"What are you doing?" Rye questioned, as he sat on her bed.

She scowled at him, "Looking for something. That is the only reason I would be rifling through my bags." She then rolled her eyes, as he looked thoughtful.

"Something?"

"My practise sword." Having reached the bottom of her bag, she stood up and started looking around the room.

"Um, I hate to be the one to inform you…but…"

"What? Just spit it out so I can get back to looking!"

"You are wearing your sword."

Adalia slowly looked down and saw the sheath at her belt, thinking she really ought to have looked there first. Rye was rolling on the bed, clutching his stomach in laughter. "T-the l-look on your face… it's priceless!" He managed to say.

Adalia snapped and quickly drew her sword, leaving it to rest at the base of his throat. He stopped laughing immediately.

They looked at each other, and Adalia made a crooked smile, lowering her sword, "No, my laddybuck. The look on _your_ face is priceless." She sheathed her sword, and just when Rye thought he was safe, she pivoted and whacked him on the head.

"Oww. I come in here, out of the goodness of my heat, and you hit me for helping you find your sword." He whined.

"You were enjoying it too much." Adalia informed him, haphazardly throwing the clothes back in her bag. She then picked it up and carried it out of the door, locking it behind her. She couldn't say bye to her grandparents, as George was still at Pirate's Swoop, and Alanna was still hunting Marcus Wood, who was proving to be a slippery scum bag, although she had managed to close down the slavery network, returning all those captured back to their homes.

Rye slipped out just before she locked him in. Adalia saw him move to carry her bag, but she brushed him off, irritably saying, "If I couldn't carry a bag, do you think I would have bothered go into training to be a knight?"

He just stepped back and followed her to the pages wing, where they broke off, saying goodbye. Adalia was sorry that she wouldn't have time off in ages, but brightened quickly at the thought that she could go flying and find him.

She strode into her room and dumped her bags down. She was debating whether to unpack when a crowd of people came in.

"What? No knocking?" She asked, smiling at seeing the familiar faces of Dameon, Nathan, Kaden, Daniel, Charlie and Kula filing into her room. They all greeted each other boisterously.

"Nice work on Lord Padraig, by the way. It was art." Daniel told her after a while, with an approving nod in her direction.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Adalia replied teasingly.

The others had heard this and were looking at Adalia in surprise. "That was you?" Kula asked, a smile breaking through her Yamani mask.

"I thought that pink was a good colour on him, myself." Charlie put in, grinning from ear to ear.

Kaden just looked at the two, "How do you know she did it?" He whispered; none of them wanted to draw Lord Padraig's attention to this particular conversation.

"Just an educated guess." Daniel replied

Adalia snorted, "Educated?"

"Well, you're the only one that could have done it without getting caught."

At this, Adalia smiled sheepishly, "Sometimes having a spymaster as mother really comes in handy."

The others just shook their heads, and started to talk about the free time they had. Kula had visited her mother in Queenscove, and she was telling them about it when Lord Padraig stuck his face through the open doorway shouting, "All pages line up NOW."

They quickly filed out and lined the corridor. Lord Padraig began his speech, "Okay. Now, we have about a month before the new pages come, so, as usual we are going on our survival camp. I expect everyone to be up and ready, with _minimal_ luggage tomorrow at the crack of dawn, lining up _with_ your mounts! Dismissed."

Adalia looked at Kula, one eyebrow cocked, "Survival camp?"

"All the pages but first years do it. We ride out to a location of Lord Padraig's choosing, and have to hunt for our own food. Usually the Shang masters join us. Bring a bed roll and I hope you don't complain." Kula told Adalia.

"Complain?"

"It rains every time we go out. I think it must be the Trickster's big joke." Kula explained, sighing. "The boys are terrible when wet is mixed with cold, it's horrible."

All of the pages spent that day packing what they would need. They then went to bed early, in anticipation of the upcoming adventure, even if they had to spend it with their grumpy training master.

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Adalia woke up to ear-piercing crow calls. She fell out of bed, shocked. This made all the crows laugh at her, emitting curious squawks that made Adalia blush in embarrassment.

"What are you doing in my room?" She asked in crow speech.

A large one hopped onto her arm and started pecking her clothes, "Rye-crow said wake up Ady-crow, because it would be fun. We agree with him, so we did."

Adalia went red with anger at the mention that Rye had put them up to it, and she said, "When did he ask you to do this?"

The crow looked at her, abandoning her sleeve, "Last night."

A wicked grin spread across Adalia's face, and she told the crows, "Wouldn't it be fun to wake Rye-crow up as well? He will probably do what I did."

Adalia saw an amused glint creep into the crow's eyes and they all took off, flying back out of her open window. She could take pleasure in the fact that he would get the same treatment. She then noticed that outside it was still dark, but that daybreak was probably in about an hour.

She jumped up off the floor and gathered her things, thinking that she probably shouldn't have set the crows on Rye, seeing as he probably just wanted to make sure she got up. Then she shrugged, thinking, _I can only hope he falls out of bed as well_.

Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she left her room and knocked on Kula's door. When Kula just groaned, Adalia slipped some lock picks out of her belt and in no time was barging in the door. She gave a large crow bawl, meaning 'wake up!' and Kula started, nearly falling off the bed.

As Kula looked tiredly up at Adalia, she muttered heatedly, "Where did you learn to do that? You sound just like a crow!"

"Oh, here and there." Adalia told her dismissively, and then dragged her out of bed. She was already wearing her travelling clothes. She moaned as she saw how dark it was outside, but Adalia just smiled wickedly and dragged her into the washroom, splashing water over her face.

"I'm up!" Kula yelled, and then added, "This isn't fair! You never wake up early! I am the one who gets to get you out of bed!"

"This is payback!" Adalia informed her tall friend. She looked at Kula's hair, "You might want to use some leather to tie that out of your eyes."

Kula looked surprised, and then looked at her hair, which was lightly brushing her shoulders. She scowled at it, and then turned to Adalia, a sheepish grin on her face, "Ah, can I borrow a band? I have never needed to before, I'll need to get it cut again."

"Sure." Adalia dropped her bag on the ground, and started rummaging around looking for a band.

As Adalia handed Kula a spare tie, Kula sighed and said, "I don't get how you can keep your hair so long. Mine irritates me when it gets this long!" She was looking at the black plait of Adalia's hair, which stretched down to be about level with the middle of her back.

Adalia looked at her confused, and then grabbed her plait to look at its length. Surprised to find so much, she just shrugged, "It doesn't really bother me. Anyway, I find this a much more practical solution to reminding the boys I am a girl than wearing dresses to every dinner."

Adalia could not stand dresses, and she wasn't about to wear one ever again, if she could help it. Kula just laughed at the dark look on Adalia's face, and guessing the subject of her thoughts, said, "You'll have to wear one sometime."

Adalia just crossed her arms, and then abandoned the subject. "We better get a move on if we want to have Anika and Tama saddled in time." Tama was Kula's strawberry mare. Tama meant jewel in Yamani, and the horse had a not-so-nice temperament towards almost everyone. Kula and Tama got along well, and Adalia had an agreement with the horse, so she was not bitten, but practically everyone else was at risk. Kula was proud of Tama; even more so since Kel had visited her personally and remarked that she was a lot like Peachblossom.

Kula hefted her bag and both girls walked down to the stables, not bothering to even attempt waking up the boys; they didn't want to deprive Lord Padraig the fun of doing it personally.

They took their time grooming the horses, knowing they had plenty. Kula mounted Tama to ride her out to where they were meeting Lord Padraig, and Adalia quickly followed suit.

It was 15 minutes until they were to leave when they heard the ear-splitting roar that meant Lord Padraig was in the process of waking up the pages. Adalia and Kula looked on, laughing uproariously as a line of sleepy boys trekked out, into the stables. Some had only one boot on, or their shirts halfway over their head. The two Shang Masters, Hakim Seastone (the Horse) and Eda Bell (The Wildcat) were also there, and joined in the laughter.

The boys half-heartedly glared at the girls who were in tears of laughter, and then they caught the unmistakable sound of Lord Padraig stomping up behind them, and they went into the stables to ready their horses.

While they were waiting, Lord Padraig went over to the two and checked their bags to see if they were too heavy. Declaring them fine, he told them to strap them to their saddles. He was surprisingly cheerful, but the girls thought it was an evil kind of cheerfulness; come out of the delight in forcing the boys out of bed.

They waited, Adalia patient for once, as the boys came out, one by one leading their mounts and joining the line up.

Once Lord Padraig had deemed all of their bags the appropriate weight, he shouted "Mount Up."

Adalia caught Kula's eye and they shared a pained look, both thinking, '_is there any way to mount down?'_ Even so, they did as he commanded and were shortly sitting in the saddle. Adalia could already hear Tama warning the horse on her other side not to get close, and she watched Daniel's mount quickly shuffle to the side, eyeing Tama with apprehension.

Lord Padraig lead the way out of the palace, saying "Off to Wellam!"

Adalia lent closer to Kula; the pages were riding in twos, and said quietly, "Wellam?"

"It's about a three-day ride from here, and it has a pretty dense forest that I bet Lord Padraig will place our camp." Adalia sighed at this, thinking there probably wouldn't be much room for tents.

The first day of riding was pleasant. They all chatted, and Adalia and Kula got much amusement from the antics of Tama; Adalia was in giggles most of the time, listening to the threats the mare issued. The only horse Tama tolerated was Anika, because she had promised to, and the two horses became good friends.

After Tama had streaked up to nip Daniel's mount for the second time in 30 minutes, he was grumbling because he had fallen off when his horse had jumped involuntarily. He looked back to Adalia, "Why does that devil horse not hurt _you_?" He asked in exasperation, rubbing his rump.

Adalia laughed and said, "Well, for one thing I don't call her 'the devil horse'…"

Tama snorted and made a jump for Daniel's arm, but he pulled it out of her way. He winced when he heard her jaws click together, and kicked Rebel into a trot, "I think I will go and ride with Kaden."

"Good idea!" Kula yelled at his retreating back. The two girls looked at each other and then laughed.

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That night when they stopped, they watered the horses, and then let them graze. They knew that they would not go far, as all the animals had become more intelligent (by human standards) due to Daine's presence at the castle.

Lord Padraig walked over to the girls, and handed Kula a shovel. "Go dig a girl's latrine, and tell Eda where it is once you are done." Then he nodded to Adalia, "You can set up a tent, near wherever Eda decides to set up her hammock. You two will share a tent."

Adalia resisted the urge to inform him that that was what they had been planning, but just barely. She picked up her saddle and walked over to where Eda was tying a hammock between two trees. "Ah, lass, you don't have to set that thing up. It won't rain tonight, just lay out the bedrolls."

Adalia grinned appreciatively at the Wildcat; she had known that, but thought it wiser to follow Lord Padraig's orders. Throwing the tent next to her bag, she extracted her and Kula's bedrolls and laid them on the ground. She loved looking at the stars while sleeping, which was part of the reason she left her windows open at night.

She and Kula joined the boys around a campfire that Dameon had lit with his Gift for dinner. "Don't get used to this. Once we reach Wellam you can get your own food or go hungry. Just for the travelling, we have brought food."

They ate while talking around the campfire for a while, and then Lord Padraig ordered them to bed.

Stretching out on her bed role, she gazed at the stars in satisfaction, thinking that she was happy to be a girl page.

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In the morning a grinning Kula shook her awake, "Ha! Now things are back to normal!"

Adalia groaned and rolled over. Kula grabbed her and dragged her bodily from the warm blankets.

"You need to eat more, you're too light." Kula told Adalia, surprised at how easy it was to drag the girl that was almost the same height as her.

"Why not just sleep more?"

"No, eat. So get up it's breakfast time!" Adalia was too tired to worry that Kula had felt that she was unusually light, so she just dragged herself up from the ground swearing fluently in Kyprish, and looked around for her bag.

She got a little shock seeing Anika leaning over her, but she recovered quickly and gave her a large affectionate stroke. The mare whinnied a greeting, and then moved off to join Tama.

Adalia threw on a fresh shirt and breeches after precariously jumping into a freezing stream. She made her way to the campfire while tying up her hair. The boys and Kula greeted her, then handed her bread and cheese for breakfast. While munching on the bread, she watched the boys collapsing their tents, with Lord Padraig breathing over their shoulders. He was anxious to get a move on.

After finishing breakfast, she trudged back to the girl's sleeping place and packed up her bedroll. Kula was doing likewise, and then she waited for Adalia to finish, sitting on her bag. "Hmm. How do you think we will call the horses?" She asked Adalia.

Adalia looked thoughtful for a second, and then put her hands in her mouth, giving a high-pitched whistle. She was actually calling them silently, but she did the whistle for good measure.

Kula winced at the noise, and then dropped her Yamani mask and threw Adalia a scathing look, "You hurt my ears! At least warn me next time. They probably won't come anyway."

Kula jumped as Tama, who had sneaked up behind her, snorted in her ear. She quickly turned around to see Tama and Anika standing behind them.

"See? It did work!" Adalia told her satisfactorily. She picked up her saddle blanket and started tacking up Anika. Kula just stared bemusedly at Tama, but when the mare butted her softly she laughed and addressed Adalia, "You have to teach me how to do that!"

That day, Adalia taught Kula how to do the whistle, and Kula had gotten quite good at it by the time that they abandoned the road to set up camp.

The drill was the same, except this time Adalia set up the tent, as she could see that it would probably start raining throughout the night. It seemed Eda agreed with her, as she put up a large canvas sheet to keep the rain off above her hammock.

In the morning there was little talk. Everyone pulled on raincoats to try to keep the wet out of their clothes, and then they mounted and followed Lord Padraig back to the road to Wellam.

"I told you it would rain." Kula reminded Adalia gloomily as they looked apprehensively at the dark clouds.

Adalia just shrugged, having not gotten a good night's sleep due to the noise the rain made splattering on the roof of their tent. She was cocooned in two jumpers, under her raincoat. They all trudged on, and Adalia came to agree with Kula; that the boy's complaining was annoying.

Adalia did not complain out loud; she tried to occupy herself by running over all the swear words in the Kyprish language, and then narrowing down the list to find the one that portrayed just how much she hated Lord Padraig. It turned out to be a very long list, but it did help to raise her spirits, as she imagined calling him the particular word. The only problem would be that she would be the only one to understand it, which made it less fun; she would rather him to conceive the gravity of her hatred.

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While the motley group rode by, they didn't notice a man dressed in dark brown clothes to blend in with the trees watching them. He looked over them carefully, and upon seeing a girl with purple eyes, he grinned in wicked delight. He then turned back to signal to the others that he found what they were looking for.

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That night, there was no talk, and they were handed some cold food and sent to put up tents. Kula and Adalia also set up a canvas sheet, so Tama and Anika could have some shelter from the heavy rain. Grunting good night, the exhausted girls dropped into bed, and then into the deep sleep of exhaustion.

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Well past midnight, three rough-looking men approached the camp. They first searched a ring of many tents, but upon not finding their target, they widened the search area. After a few minutes they stumbled upon a lone tent and an old woman sleeping in a hammock. The rain hid their advance, so they crept up to the tent, and then made an opening with a hidden dagger.

The man that had seen the group pass pointed to one of the girls; she had long raven black hair and high cheek bones, with tanned looking skin. Two men reached down to pick her up, but upon discovering she was light, one stepped back to allow the other to place her over his shoulder. Before stepping out of the tent, they left a note on her bedroll.

When they carried her out into the rain, they forced her to drink something that would ensure she would sleep at least until they had her safely tied up, and then stole away into the night.

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Next chapter: Helpless

**Disclaimer**: I am NOT Tamora Pierce!

So. I hope you all liked that. Stay tuned, because I am going to try to have the next chapter up tomorrow. I can't leave you in suspense for long, I know how cruel it is!!!!


	10. Helpless

**Chapter 10: Helpless**

Kula stirred at her usual time, about half an hour before daybreak. She glanced at Adalia's bed, and saw that she wasn't there. Thinking that she must have managed to already be up, she just struggled outside to wash her face and change into clean clothes; nothing could make _her_ jump in a freezing cold stream this close to winter!

Face and hair wet, she trudged back to the tent. Seeing Anika, chestnut hide glistening, leaning into the tent, she did a double take – there was not supposed to be an opening there! She dropped her dirty clothes, feeling a sudden pang of doom and sprinted up to the tent. Going to Anika's side she saw in sudden horror that there was a large gash in the tent's canvas. She then spotted the note on Adalia's bed role.

_Oh, Gods!_ She thought in horror, and sprinted to Eda on the hammock, shaking her awake. "Eda! Eda wake up! S-Something's happened to Adalia!"

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Half an hour later the pages were sitting silently around the campfire, all deadly white, imagining what kind of horrors Adalia could be going through at that very moment. The three adults were conversing together, "What the hell do we do? What _can_ we do?" Eda Bell was flinging the letter around, a horrified look on her face.

Lord Padraig was stalking around in circles, face grim. "We are going to have to inform the King."

"How?" Eda and Hakim said together.

Kula spoke up, "I can send to Numair in the fire."

The adults sighed in relief; they had a means to get word to the people who could do something about it. "Do it now. I want every page out, except for Kula. Go tend to your mounts." Lord Padraig commanded.

Kula watched them go. She could see Anika stalking around in circles, apparently knowing that her rider was in danger. Kula shook herself, and then pointed to the fireplace. It burst into flames.

All left gathered around the fire, and Kula brought her glistening gift out, focusing it on the flames, which turned blue. "Numair?" Kula called into the flames.

All of a sudden, Numair's face appeared in the flames, as he noticed that Kula was calling to him. He seemed to be in his rooms, and then he faced the fireplace to see those in the clearing talking to him. He noticed their harried looks, and quickly jumped down to be leaning over the flames.

"What happened?"

Lord Padraig was the next to talk. "There is no easy way to say this, so here it is… Adalia has been kidnapped."

Numair's eyes widened and his face turned deathly pale; he knew Adalia like he knew his own children, and this cut him deeply. "D-do you know who did it?"

Lord Padraig nodded grimly, brandishing a note, "This was left by the kidnappers. I'll read it to you:

_To whom it may concern:_

_I have taken the Lioness's granddaughter. You must give me one hundred untraceable gold nobles and free passage out of Tortall, and she will come back to you unharmed._

_Disobey my order, and she will be killed slowly and painfully. Meet me in five day's time at the border to Galla, near Goldenlake._

_Signed: Marcus Wood_

"MARCUS WOOD?!" At this, Numair cussed like a sailor for a few moments, and then seeming to remember it would do no good, he forced himself to stop.

"That makes the situation worse. Since Alanna was able to stop his slavery network, he has been able to somehow avoid all of the animals and Sarra, not to mention the Own and the Riders. Adalia is probably drugged too, which means she won't be able to escape…" Numair added to himself.

"How would she hope to escape even if she weren't drugged? Hakim went over the area and he found a makeshift camp. It looks like there is a company of twenty, maybe more." Lord Padraig broke in.

Numair was thinking fast, hands on his temples. "You need to start coming back to the palace –"

"No. That we won't do. We will join the Own. It won't hurt to give these youngsters a sense of how we deal with kidnappers." Lord Padraig said forcefully. Truthfully, he was just as worried for Adalia as was the boys, and he also knew that if he were to try to force them back to the castle, most of them would probably just sneak away at night to attempt a rescue mission.

Numair, understanding the training master's vehemence nodded, "Then keep following The Great Road East. You should be able to meet up with the Own, as well as the Lioness in about a day; they were around there looking for the scumbag. You all pack up and go." Numair then cut the conversation.

He sighed, thinking he would give any amount of money not to have to send to the next person. Reluctantly, he cast some magic into the fire and said, "Alanna?"

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Alanna, who at that moment was wrapped up in five coats to ward of the cold, yelped when the campfire she was trying to warm up by turned black and emitted Numair's voice, "Alanna?"

She quickly moved in closer, "Numair?"

"Ah, Alanna. We have horrible news." His voice was distressed, and Alanna felt a sudden dread.

"Adalia has been kidnapped while on her survival camp with the pages… by Marcus Wood."

Alanna just stiffened in shock. "That kidnapped Ady?" Her question was answered by Numair's silence. She then cursed eloquently.

Once Alanna had calmed down a bit, the two talked, working out a plan. Numair had also joined the conversation to the King, and they all decided on the best plan of action.

Jon had shut down his line of the conversation, and it was just Alanna and Numair. Alanna stared at Numair, her purple eyes filled with concern for her granddaughter's life. "What will we do if…"

"Hush. Don't say it, Alanna. She will be ok." Numair said strongly, reassuring the both of them. "…She has to be."

The two stared at each other, and then Numair said, "Me and Rye will meet up with you soon. Please have some clothes waiting for us when we get there."

Alanna silently nodded in reply, and then they both broke off the communication.

Alanna abruptly stood up and strode towards her tent. Men of the Own got out of her way, recognising the steely look of determination that meant she wanted to be alone. This situation felt like Aly all over again to Alanna.

_Except this time we can get her back_ Alanna forcibly reminded herself. _There is hope_.

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That night, a few hours before sundown, the Own were lazily waiting in their temporary camp by the fire when the visitors they were expecting arrived.

Alanna stood up and greeted the man, "Evening, Lord Padraig. I guess your travel was uneventful?"

"Yes. Dismount and set up tents over there." He pointed to a clearing that was free of tents. It seemed to have been there especially for that purpose.

All of the pages had grim looks on their faces; especially five of them that Alanna recognised to be Adalia's close friends. She recognised the chestnut mare that she had gifted to Adalia, and that made her feel worse. She had been told hours ago, and yet the solid evidence of it all seemed to pierce her heart.

"Have you seen her?" Lord Padraig asked Alanna privately.

"Yes, thank the Gods. She looks to be drugged, but intact." This was little reassurance, but those words heartened the man.

Once the pages had finished setting up their tents, Alanna addressed everyone present. "Okay. Get into groups with five of the Own, and one page. We are going to be ambushing them at dawn. I want everyone awake and ready early. The scumbags that did this will be punished."

The men and pages mixed, and then sat down around the fire, eating.

It was around then that Alanna spotted two birds, both eagles swooped down to be flying around her. Alanna strode over to a tent and let them in, closing the flap behind them, "Your clothes are in there."

A few moments later a ruffled Numair and Rye stepped out of the tent. "Rye, tomorrow we need you to scout ahead, and see if you can get some birds to signal if the men are coming. Sarra will be doing that as well."

Rye nodded his understanding. Alanna saw the pain and worry for Adalia on his face, and Alanna wished that these vile men had not gone for Adalia. She would make them pay for what they did to her granddaughter.

The whole camp went to sleep early, anxious to be up early enough so that the plan would be executed perfectly.

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Adalia was slumped on the ground, still mostly out from the drug the despicable men had given her. Her brain was working as fast as ever, but she could not open her eyes, or move much. She could hear some men arguing, and she made an effort to understand 

"– should have woken up hours ago! What the hell did you give her?" One man, who was tall and bulky, said to another threateningly.

Adalia's concentration slipped. Just before the drug took hold of her again, she thought _It's times like this I wish I weren't a bloody crow! Drugs affect me much worse, so now I have no way to get out._ Another thought came to her, a thought that she had never had before. It gave her immense fear.

I am helpless 

Then she slipped back into the abyss, the drug claiming her again.

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**Disclaimer**: I am not Tamora Pierce.

Well, I hope you like this chapter. I just can't stop writing, so look out for an update soon!

Next Chapter: Rescue Mission


	11. Rescue Mission

**Chapter 11: Rescue Mission**

The forest was whisper silent. Only the birds chirped at the small groups of men and pages that were threading their way through the trees silently in the early morning grey light.

Alanna was crouched behind a rocky outcrop that shielded her from the sight of the twenty or so men camped outside a small cave. Rye and Sarra had managed to fly in as bats and confirm that the big bulky man that was the scum-of-the-earth, otherwise named Marcus Wood was inside with an unconscious Adalia.

Alanna felt better already, knowing that there was no way that he could escape.

The pages had been placed up high trees, so that they would have good shots at any of the enemy men who tried to run. She did not expect them to be able to escape, but she was not going to put the other pages in any danger, and they had vehemently argued against being left at camp. Lord Padraig was also in the trees, so he could signal them if need be.

Alanna signalled the group of men over to her left, and she saw them pass the message on to the others. Once they all had time to get the message, she nodded to Rikash, who was gliding overhead as an eagle, and he let out a great cry which was the signal to attack.

The Own archers in the trees took down the sentries, allowing the men waiting to ambush to sneak right up.

The men outside the cave, seeing the sheer numbers of men in the livery of the Own advancing on them, didn't even attempt to fight back.

They lay down their arms, and put their hands in the air. Now was the dangerous part of the plan. There was no telling what Marcus would do; he effectively had nothing to lose, and the mad man was in the cave, holding Adalia hostage.

The men of the Own quickly went and tied the surrendering men up.

Having done this, they turned to the cave. The big gamble was to try to sneak in there and safely pull out Adalia.

Alanna swore explosively when she saw the bulky fugitive in the entrance of the cave, holding a dagger to Adalia's throat. Worse thing was that it seemed she was semi-unconscious, meaning that she couldn't save herself if the man decided to kill her.

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Adalia had managed to force her eyes open. _I feel horrible_. She groaned as she noticed a sharp pain in her back

She could hear something outside the cave that she realised she must be in. She identified it as men laying down their arms. _This must be my rescue… I HATE being some stupid maiden in distress!_

The only problem was that the drug still held onto her strength, so she couldn't do anything.

She suddenly saw a large bulky man, who looked pissed off. He grabbed her, hauling her up. She felt a dagger at her throat, making a small cut. Fear swamped her; _she_ was helpless. Her fear grew as he dragged her out in front of him, until she could see men of the Own arrayed in front of the cave, and her grandmother, the Lioness at the forefront of them.

"Let me out, or the girl is dead." Marcus bellowed at the men.

She understood that he was using her to escape. The cur was using her to get out with his neck in tact!

She felt a rush of pure hatred rise inside her, and surprisingly, it won against the drug. She took control of her body.

She discovered that her hands were tied up in a rope, and she remorselessly yanked her hands apart, and the binding snapped. She then grabbed the dagger at her throat, and threw it into a nearby tree, where the man couldn't get it. Then she punched the man with all the strength she could muster in her partially-drugged state.

She had barely registered that he flew across the clearing and smashed into a tree, when the drug took control again. She just stared blankly at the men and pages that had an awestruck look on their faces, and then sank to the ground, fully losing the battle against the drug.

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Alanna rushed forward as soon as the girl fell to the ground. She used her magic to check her health, and upon finding out that it was only the drug, hugged her close, tears in her eyes. She had been extremely frightened.

The men and boys, however, took longer to approach. They had never seen anything like it – the eleven year-old had broken out of the ropes and then disabled a full-grown man, sending him flying across a clearing.

Numair and Rye broke them out of the awe as they, newly clothed after transforming back, ran up to Alanna and Adalia. Numair picked up the girl tenderly, and carried her back to camp.

After those three had left and the pages were climbing out of the trees carefully, some brave men approached Marcus, who was unconscious on the ground. His nose looked to be broken. Spotting the tree, a man said, "l-look at the tree!"

They all then turned to pay attention to the tree, and their mouths dropped in awe.

There was a dent in the tree.

Some men who had not bothered to look at Marcus had gone over to retrieve the dagger. They too were rendered speechless.

"The dagger is in up to the hilt…" One man whispered.

His companions just nodded.

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Four days later, Adalia woke up from her drug-induced sleep.

The fist thing she saw was Rye sitting next to her, holding her hand. He noticed her open eyes, and he smiled in plain relief. He then said, "Hey everyone! She's awake!"

For a moment, Adalia was at a loss to think who 'everyone' was – until she was met with about six people jumping at her.

She used the back of her hand to rub her eyes, as Rye told everyone to calm down.

She stiffly sat up, and the world started spinning. It was Daniel's hands that forced her back into a lying position.

"How long?" Adalia managed to croak. She dimly realised that she was in clean clothes, but she stopped herself from guessing who had changed her – some things you just never want to know.

"Let's see… it has been four days since we 'rescued' you, and you were held hostage two days before that… so that's six days." Kula said thoughtfully.

Adalia swore in Kyprish.

"Hmm, I am guessing that none of that was exclamations of joy…" Charlie said.

"You could say that." Adalia agreed, first in Kyprish, and then she realised her mistake and reiterated in Common.

"I think she lost a few brain cells." Kaden said sorrowfully.

Adalia replied with more Kyprish swear words, and the others laughed.

After they had talked for a while, Daniel brought up the subject that Adalia had been expecting.

"Um…Adalia. Do you remember what happened while we were saving you?"

Adalia tried to avoid this, and instead said, "I hate being saved."

"I don't think anyone will believe you will ever need saving after that… Do you realise that you left a dent in the tree you threw that guy into? No one could get the dagger out of the tree; but the men wanted it, so they pulled out an axe and cut out that part of the tree. At the moment it is displayed in front of the Own, and the men are running bets on who will manage to pull it out. So far, no one has been able to."

Adalia sighed, "I guess you know why I can do this?"

"Yes, Alanna thought it was stupid not to tell us, what with the Own bringing home the dagger as proof."

Adalia looked around at her friends. "And what do you think of this…?" She asked quietly.

"What is there to think? We think it's brilliant! I mean, what you can do… it will be soo much of a help to Tortall when you are a knight – and our friend, of course! It also doesn't hurt to know that you will be at _our_ backs in any fight." Kula responded.

Adalia just stared at Kula, and then inspected the others, who were nodding enthusiastically.

Adalia broke into tears of appreciation. She was soo happy that they saw it this way. They all crowded around and either hugged her or patted her back.

Adalia felt something heavy lifted off her chest that she hadn't even realised she had been carrying. It was such a relief to know that she hadn't lost her friends.

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The next day, Adalia sneaked out of bed after being awoken by Kula, but instead of joining in the practise, she went into her washroom and took a long bath.

Finally feeling clean, she braided her hair and joined Kula on her way downstairs. Her friends didn't want her going down so early after she had just woken up but she told them she would scream if she had to spend one more day lying down.

As she walked into the pages mess hall, the only thing that seemed to have changed was that there were no dirty glances thrown her way. Her friends had told her that the others couldn't have cared less that she was a girl when she was kidnapped, that she was now one of them. It seemed that this good nature had transferred to Kula as well, and Adalia suspected that it would also apply to all of the girls to attend as pages in the future.

'_Goddess, I hope you appreciate that. You could have told me it would have been as easy as being kidnapped; I'd have done it sooner!'_ Adalia thought silently to the Mother; but she got no reply, not that she expected one.

That day as she went about her classes, she noticed that she got curious glances from the nobles. Luckily they didn't seem inclined to be frightened of her, or even to hate her.

After lunch, she went to the physical classes. In hand-to hand combat, she moved through the drills alongside the others, but pretty soon, Eda approached her, "Now, youngling. There is no point to holding back; we all have an idea of what you are capable of, so speed it up!"

Adalia just shrugged and started doing the drills at a more normal pace for her. She did not notice that she had an audience until she had finished the drill. She didn't pretend to pant, but just stood up from the crouching position that signalled the end. Lifting her eyes, she noticed that all the boys were watching her with shock, and Lord Padraig, Hakim Seastone and Eda Bell were watching her, bemused.

"Was it too slow still? I can do it faster, but I wanted to make sure I did it right…" Her voice lost volume and then died out, leaving the sentence in the air.

Eda said dryly, "No, if anything that was damn fast. And you did everything perfectly. What the hell have you been doing for the last year? Snoozing while pretending to be worn out?"

"Well…"

"No, wait. Don't answer that. You come with me lass." Eda, head shaking, lead her over to a corner. While Adalia followed her, Eda glanced over her shoulder, "You lads better get back to your work, or I'll set Adalia on you."

Adalia let out a snort of laughter when she saw them all quickly face Hakim again.

"Okay, lass. You are going to do some more advanced stuff. I will be your personal teacher, since you seem to have advanced when we weren't looking… or more specifically while we were oblivious to your abilities." She added thoughtfully.

Eda showed her drills, and then had Adalia repeat them over and over, until she could repeat them perfectly, at her fastest speed. It was the first time that Adalia had actually broken into a real sweat. She was out of breath at the end of the lesson, for the first time suffering the same exhaustion that the other's had been experiencing for the past year.

"Gods! How the heck did you guys live through last year?" Adalia asked the others when she joined them at the end of the lesson, she was clutching a stitch.

They just broke out laughing, shaking their heads at their friend.

They then moved on to sword practise, and a similar problem arose. Alanna just showed her more advanced drills, which she would complete while her grandmother continued to correct her stance, as well as that of the other's.

They moved on to riding, and for the first time Adalia was able to follow the older pages into the jousting field. It was traditional that the first years not be introduced to jousting, ever since Lord Padraig had become the page's instructor, because he felt that they should prove to be acceptable riders before being allowed to run at a target with a lance.

He sent the newly third and fourth year pages to get started at two of the targets, with another teacher to watch over them. When they had got started, he turned to the new second years. Kaden was next to her on his black gelding named Zephyr.

"Today we are starting jousting. All of you carefully listen to what I will tell you next…" Lord Padraig went on to demonstrate how they should hold the lance. He then went on to turn his horse to face a small circle that was softly twirling in the breeze. To all of their astonishment, he kicked the horse into a gallop and perfectly speared the loop through his lance. They clapped.

"Okay. Now I will pass out the lances. Only you are to touch your lance. You must keep it clean and look after it yourself."

He then proceeded to give all of the boys lances out of a barrel. Once he had finished, Adalia was thoroughly confused, because he had not given her a lance. She glanced at him questioningly, and he went back to her, "Ah, Adalia. We are just waiting for your lance to finish being weighted."

"Weighted?"

"Yes. We couldn't make this too easy on you. Ah. Here it comes now."

All of the first years saw two men approaching, carrying a lance between them. As the large men struggled across the yard, they also drew the glances of the older pages. Adalia thought that they were probably out of reactions to the strange things she could do, and she was proved right when they went back to their runs at the dummy. She did notice that those not taking the run were watching, interested.

Lord Padraig greeted the men by nodding, "Give it to her." At this he pointed at Adalia.

The men stared at Lord Padraig, gazes flitting to the slender girl with purple eyes. She looked like a strong breeze could knock her over, and yet this man was telling them to give her the lance that they could barely lift between them.

Noticing the men's hesitation, the training master raised an eyebrow, daring them to refuse.

_He he. I think I am rubbing off on him._ Adalia mused.

Everyone watched as the two tried to lift it up to her hand; she ended up having to lean down to accept it.

The men's eyes widened when she took the lance and the weight was, apparently easily, lifted from them. By this lean eleven-year-old _girl_. If anything, she looked like a regular court lady, totally helpless.

The girl held onto it _with one hand_ and lifted it as smoothly as if it was a regular lance.

"How is it?" Lord Padraig inquired weakly. Alanna had indicated how much weight should be added to it, but he hadn't quite believed her when she assured him Adalia could lift it. He _was_ having serious doubts - until the girl lifted it up.

She smiled delightedly, "It's perfect. Just heavy enough that it will be a workout."

He shook his head, and went on to say, "We had Numair spell your saddle blanket so that Anika wouldn't feel the extra weight. Just make sure that whenever you are jousting, you put that on her."

Adalia grinned appreciatively, "Thanks, from both of us." Adalia had been aware that there was some kind of spell, because Anika had been constantly checking that she was on her back, due to her apparent weightlessness.

Lord Padraig was a little unsettled at this, but then remembered that Adalia was almost as much as an animal as her horse, so he let it go.

"Okay. I guess you can be the first to go."

Adalia drew Anika around, asking her to back up a bit to get a good run at the target. It was specially made, so that if it was hit anywhere but in the middle, it would swing and a bag would hit her as it spun around.

She asked Anika to canter, but smoothly, and she narrowed her sights on the target, bringing her lance down into the position that Lord Padraig had shown them earlier. She quickly aimed the lance so that it pierced the centre.

There was a loud bang that could be heard throughout the tilting yards as Adalia's lance hit the target dead centre. The problem was that they had not anticipated what a lance of that weight would do to the target.

Adalia cursed in Kyprish even as the target split into hundreds of pieces. She dodged the large chucks flying at her, and managed to catch all the pieces that would have hit Anika. She quickly told her horse to stand exactly still as the last chunks stopped flying.

When the dust cleared, her and Anika were standing in the centre of a huge circle of wood chips that had flown from the dummy.

"Ah, Lord Padraig? I think we need a new dummy." Adalia called to the man. She stood up on the saddle and threw her lance over near the gate, so that it sank into the ground tip down.

She heard explosive laughter and carefully pivoted, still standing on her saddle. She realised that all the pages were in tears of laughter, as was (extremely surprisingly) Lord Padraig. She also saw that her other training masters were in the stands; including Alanna and the Shangs.

She jumped down, and cursed explosively, muttering every single despicable sentiment that she knew in the Kyprish language while carefully leading Anika out of the mess. She gave Lord Padraig a scalding look – at that very moment he didn't look so scary, "How they hell do you manage to _forget_ that the bloody practise dummy probably hasn't been hit by _anything_ that heavy before?"

He just looked at her, she could tell that somewhere deep inside his mind was telling him, _'Give her a months worth of latrine duty!'_ but instead he seemed unable to put the words together.

This made her even more irritated, and she yelled, "Some training master _you_ are!"

Suddenly she noticed that Alanna was striding towards her. She yelled to Adalia, "Stop with that language, young miss. You know I _can_ understand _some_ Kyprish!"

The pages broke into further hysterics while they watched Adalia whiten, face contorted in a shock and then changed into a sheepish smile. This made them wonder exactly what she had said; obviously it was extremely rude.

"I am _never_ picking up that _thing_ AGAIN!" Adalia yelled, spitting out the word _thing_ while pointing to her lance.

"Oh, don't do that; that's gotta be the best display of practise jousting that I have ever seen!"

Adalia spun around to see a very tall man, one she recognised as Lord Raoul, Commander of the Own, lounging against the gate leading to the tilting fields.

He took the few steps necessary to be within reaching distance of Adalia's lance, which was perfectly straight, sticking out of the hard ground of the practise court. Adalia didn't give a damn when he put both hands on the lance and yanked, but it seemed Lord Padraig had other ideas. "Um, Raoul, you might not want to do that…"

Adalia swung up on to Anika and ignored the straining Raoul. Now that Lord Padraig had calmed down, he said sternly, "Young lady. You are a page. And as a page, you must tilt. Go and retrieve your lance. We won't make you run at the targets, we can skip straight to the ring in your case, I think. We don't want to need to replace any more dummies."

Lord Padraig's voice cut into her like ice. The pages and spectators stopped laughing immediately. Now that he was acting like his old imposing self, Adalia realised that she wouldn't dare disobey him.

Again muttering Kyprish curses, she asked Anika to trot to the fence, where Raoul was still trying to pull the lance out of the ground. She flung herself out of the saddle and then grabbed the lance with both hands, then heaved. For a second, the ground resisted, and then everyone heard a crack while the lance smoothly lifted out of the ground. Raoul was staring at Adalia.

She absentmindedly handed it to him while she jumped back on Anika. That was a mistake. In the few seconds that it took her to mount, the man was struggling to keep it up high enough for her to grab. She quickly plucked it from his hands and turned back to the pages.

Raoul joined the spectators; he was impressed at discovering how strong Adalia really was. The pages got back to practising on the two dummies that were still intact, and Adalia joined a small group consisting of three fourth years, which included Daniel and Nathan. She found this much more challenging; as often as not she would miss it. Her reflexes seemed to have slowed down to almost normal with the weight of the lance. She was just happy that nothing else managed to explode that session.

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Next Chapter: Midwinter

**Disclaimer**: I am not Tamora Pierce.

I hoped you liked this chapter.


	12. Midwinter

**Chapter 12: Midwinter**

Three weeks after her first jousting lesson, Adalia could be found sprinting across a snow-covered courtyard, in red and gold clothes. It was the week before midwinter, and she felt like she was frozen.

Stupid banquets…Adalia thought irritably. 

It was the week of banquets that the monarchs held, and she was expected to serve for Alanna's table. To make matters worse, she was running late. She simply hadn't realised that she and Rye had been flying that long.

Arriving in the hall, she sped up to get warmer. Seeing a line of pages in front of the Master of Ceremonies – (who was near suffering a heart attack, from the purple tinge on his face) – she slipped in between Kula and Charlie.

They gave her quick grins, and then turned back to the man. After he had finished warning them of the terrible embarrassment they would bring to their families should they stuff up – ("heavens forbid!") as well as the punishments that they would incur, he told the pages to hurry up and wait for the dishes.

The first years were to be passing dishes from the kitchen staff to the older pages serving. Adalia had not done it last year, as she couldn't sail in the middle of winter, but there were already about five first years that had joined them this year.

Adalia and her friends were peeking out at the nobles, all seated. And then the first years started shoving food into their hands.

Taking a deep breath, Adalia followed the others, being careful to stand up straight. When she approached, she saw that Numair, Daine, Sarra and Rye were dining with her grandparents.

While she passed around the bowl that they could wash their fingers in, she grinned at them each in turn. They smiled back, reassuring her that she would not mess up. When she reached Rye, she noticed that his hair was all ruffled. She almost laughed at him.

He seemed to sense that she was trying not to laugh. He made a face at her, and then winked, stormy eyes sparkling with mischief.

She shook her head, purple eyes sparkling, and retreated to receive the first course.

_Rye ended up running late as well._ Adalia thought, still trying not to laugh.

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The banquet was over before she knew it, and the Master of Ceremonies called all the pages back. He was totally exhausted, but managed to point out all of the small and numerous mistakes that each of them had made. He then warned them to be punctual tomorrow – at this he looked at Adalia – or they would be passing dishes instead of serving. He then dismissed them.

Adalia had a sheepish grin on her face as she turned to see Kula and Charlie laughing at her.

"You should have seen your face!" Charlie told her in between laughter.

"That guy is scary! He makes every little thing seem like a disaster!" Kula said, exasperated.

Adalia raised her eyebrow at her, "You, Kula are afraid? I think this is a first!"

"Not afraid, worried. Did you see the scathing looks he was giving both of us? I think he was still arguing with himself over if we should be wearing breaches or a skirt." Kula shook her head and but waited for Adalia to respond. She had purposefully needled her.

Adalia's purple eyes became hard, and she obstinately crossed her arms then said, "Well, there's no way _I_ would ever wear a dress!"

Her friends all laughed at her. "Come on, let's go eat." Adalia said, irritated, and then walked towards the mess.

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The week passed without any major catastrophes (if you weren't the Master of Ceremonies) and Adalia was gazing out her window, hands behind her head. _I really should go to sleep. It's Midwinter tomorrow!_

She sighed, and then walked over to her window. She was brought out of her thoughts when a crow flapped down and landed on her window. She addressed it, "What are you doing, Rye?"

"Can't sleep?" He sent to her.

"Not exactly." She admitted. She jumped up to be sitting on the window, legs dangling over the side.

"Well, why don't we race then? It would probably make it easier to sleep." Rye asked tentatively.

"I suppose." She quickly went back inside then changed into a crow.

He took off and she flew to catch up.

After racing for a while, they split off, and Adalia soared back through her window. She pulled on the clothes she would be wearing tomorrow (very wary of some plot to force her into a dress), then crawled into bed and fell asleep immediately.

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"WAKE UP!" Someone shouted.

Adalia cracked an eyelid, and upon seeing that there were many someones standing around her, she moaned and pulled her blanket over her head.

"We know you're awake! Get up, we want to thankyou for your presents!"

The pages watched Adalia's blanket expectantly.

Finally it moved down, so they could see her purple eyes glaring at them, "Oh gods! What did I do to deserve this?"

They laughed. Adalia rolled her eyes, "See what I mean?" She asked the ceiling. "I am totally not appreciated." She rubbed her eyes and hesitantly sat up.

"We decided to make sure you couldn't escape."

"And why would you think I would want to escape?" Adalia asked suspiciously.

They all had evil grins, as they whipped out presents. "We _all_ know how much you hate making a fuss, so we decided to give you your gifts _personally_. Oh, and you may not want one of them very much…"

They forced their presents on her. She had left her presents for them in their rooms last night, hoping that this would divert them from waking her up the next morning. _Obviously not_

Adalia shook her head, and then smiled reluctantly, "If you insist…"

"We do." They all said firmly.

She smiled and grabbed the first parcel. After opening all of them, she was speechless. "T-thankyou all so much." She managed to say.

"You may not want to thank us yet." Kula said dryly. She came forward with one last present. She offered it to Adalia, who opened it. Adalia was staring at the contents, her face turning white.

The others observed her gaze flitting towards the door, and Kaden and Daniel went to block the exit.

"NO!" Adalia yelled, horrified.

"Yes!" Kula said, determination on her face.

The boys started backing away. They held the bag with Adalia's clothes in it. "Um. We will be waiting outside…" With that they sprinted out.

Adalia swore explosively in Kyprish. Of all things, they had to get her one of those. She flung it across the room. She then jumped out of the window, changing into a crow, and flew away.

She heard Kula bellow out the window, "They aren't that bad!"

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Kula had watched her friend grow white. They had all been expecting it. She couldn't help but laugh as the girl who could do extraordinary things flung the present away from her, and dived out the window, as if escaping from her worst nightmare.

As she watched the crow that was her friend swoop away, she thought '_Hmmm. I forgot she could do that…'_

Shaking her head, she went over to collect the discarded object. It was a white kimono with purple embroidery. "It's over." She called to the boys waiting outside.

They charged in, eager to tease their friend for being forced into a dress. When they saw Kula standing at the centre of the room, kimono draped over her arm, and no Adalia in sight, they stood shocked.

"Where…?"

"- Out the window." Kula answered.

They all ran to the window, and saw a crow in the distance. "Hmm. We are going to have to remember this in the future…" Kaden mused out loud.

"Damn! I can't believe we forgot the window!" Daniel muttered.

"Oh yeah. It's totally the exit one expects; especially when it's on the third floor." Dameon said sarcastically.

"Do you recon she is going to spend today as a crow?" Nathan asked.

They all rubbed their chins while thinking.

"Why don't we bet on it?" Charlie suggested.

--------------------------------------------------------

Adalia was lying low. She had joined some crows, so that she wouldn't be spotted as a lone crow as that would give her away.

She had been with them ever since her big escape. She knew why she feared dresses, which just made her more anxious to avoid them completely. It would make things complicated if they forced her into one, especially if her suspicions were confirmed.

She shuddered to think how differently she would be treated… '_So I won't think about it!' _She told herself fiercely.

About two hours after she had escaped, she spotted Daniel, Kaden and Rye walking down the path. _What are they doing together?_

She saw Kaden point to the crows… "Do you recon she is one of them?" He addressed this to Rye. Adalia silently swore in Kyprish, and then slipped away from them, behind a building.

Gliding around the palace, she found another gathering of crows and joined it. It wasn't long before she saw Nathan, Kula and Sarra ambling along the path. _It seems that they are searching for me._

Adalia yet again flew off. This time she flew back to her room, thinking that would be the last place they would look for her. She swerved off her path when she saw Dameon and Charlie lounging in her room. _Damn. They're smarter than I thought._

Adalia wracked her brains, trying to think of a refuge where no one would find her.

Suddenly, she felt very satisfied. _Perfect_!

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"Where the hell is she?" Daniel asked, frustrated. The six pages, plus Rye and Sarra, had gathered in Adalia's room. It was a full seven hours after her spectacular escape, and they had not caught a glimpse of her.

"No idea." Kula said. She had her hands to her temples.

"Do you think she left the palace grounds?" Kaden asked.

"No." That was Rye and Sarra.

"We can feel that she is actually very close to us, but we can't find out exactly _where_." Rye said, annoyed. He turned on the six pages, "Why the hell did you guys try to get her to wear a dress?"

"We didn't think she'd fly out of the window!" Charlie reminded him.

"No, but she did." Sarra cut in.

"You've got to admit, this is a funny situation. We have been looking for Adalia, who has _flown_ away." Nathan said, after a while of silence.

At this they chuckled.

"Why don't me and Sarra go flying to find her?" Rye asked.

"Good idea. Why didn't you suggest that sooner?" Dameon asked suspiciously.

They all watched Rye get up and stretch. When he straightened up, he replied teasingly, "_I_ didn't want to lose the bet. It's about time for me to win." At this he changed into a crow and flew out the window.

"CHEAT!" Kaden, Charlie, Daniel and Nathan bellowed after him.

Kula and Dameon laughed at the scowls that now plastered their friend's faces. "You are just angry because you have already lost!" Kula accused.

"Of course! Why shouldn't we be?" Daniel replied irritably for the four of them.

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As Rye flew out the window, he was running through a list of all the places that Adalia might be.

Deciding to go with his instincts, he headed straight for the small section of roof that Adalia had practised her swordsmanship.

Sure enough, when he reached the flat piece of roof, he spotted the crow he recognised as Adalia.

"Hey. Don't you get hungry?" He teased her.

She jumped, and then saw him glide down to alight on the rail next to her. "You know, I may be half a crow, but I have no desire what-so-ever to eat bugs." Adalia retorted.

"So, why not come back down to ground and come eat some nice, appetising, human food?" He suggested.

"Sounds…um good. I guess… but…" Adalia hesitated.

"If you're worried the others are going to try to put you in a dress, I don't think you have to. They have actually been worried about you." He reassured her gently.

She was silent. Rye inspected her closely, and realised that she was shivering badly.

"What the hell…Adalia, you're freezing!" He practically yelled at her, silently cursing himself for not thinking she may be cold, what with spending the entire time outdoors. In winter.

"Oh. I'm ok…"

"We are going back. Now." He told her forcefully, and then nudged her off the rail.

He was frightened by the stiffness of her movements; it looked like she was struggling to fly.

-------------------------------------------------

It actually only took the two 30 seconds to glide down through the window into Adalia's rooms, but to Rye it felt like years. He flitted around her, harrying her so she would continue to fly.

He was out of his mind with worry for her life, and the only thing that saved his logical thinking was the constant thought 'S_he must live! Goddess, please let her live!'_

As they passed though the window, Adalia saw that she had probably seconds before she would be forced to change back to human. It was all she could do to crash-land on her bed, and tunnel under the sheets before she lost consciousness.

Before the two even reached the window, Rye contacted Sarra, telling her the situation. Sarra had quickly forced the boys out, and she and Kula had begun to gather blankets.

So when an unconscious Adalia transformed back into human, the two girls quickly covered her properly.

Sarra called to her healing Gift, thanking the Gods she knew what to do. Just before starting, she noticed Rye on the window, "GO NOW! Get a healer!" She watched him jump as if stung, then fly off in the direction of the palace infirmary.

As soon as Sarra reached into Adalia, she swore, and then scanned the room swiftly. Her eyes settled on the emerald green of Kula's and she muttered, "Hypothermia."

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**Disclaimer**: I am not TP

Anyways, I hope you liked that. Stay tuned.


	13. Déjà vu

**Chapter 13: Déjà vu**

The next morning when Adalia woke up her whole body was throbbing in steady pain. Eyes still shut; she tried to think why she was in pain. Where was she?

Enlightenment hit as she heard the voice of Kula's father, Sir Neal of Queenscove trying to get someone who had apparently been pacing all night to stop.

"Stop it!" He almost yelled with exasperation. "She will wake up soon."

Adalia heard the pacing stop, and felt someone sit down by her side. Now that she was listening, she heard a few other people talking. _I must have been pretty sick…_

Realising, (with disappointment) that she could not pretend to be unconscious any longer, she repressed a sigh and cracked an eyelid. She saw Kula sitting on her father's lap, Kaden, Daniel, Nathan, Dameon and Charlie sitting on the floor, and Rye sitting in a chair next to her bed.

The others hadn't noticed she had opened her eyes. As she tried to tell them, she only emitted a strangled croak. She really needed water.

She tried again, "Have I seen this somewhere before recently? I think I've got déjà vu."

Everyone was brought out of their thoughts to gaze at her in shock, and then laughed and gathered around her bed. All except for Rye that is, who went to get her water, and then helped her drink it.

From the others, she found out that she had suffered from a moderate bout of hypothermia. After she had assured them that she didn't blame them for her getting hypothermia, Neal made everyone exit the room. Rye asked if he could talk to her, and Neal nodded then left for his office, warning the boy that she needed more rest.

As the others exited, Adalia was nervous at what Rye would say. After getting her water, he had kept back, seeming to be brooding.

As Neal shut his door Rye got up to continue his pacing.

After a few moments, it seemed that he had decided on the words that eloquently articulated his thoughts.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING? WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST COME INSIDE?"

Adalia was too weak to look ashamed, in any case she didn't feel like playing the part. She simply said, "I didn't want to wear a dress."

Rye just stood there, staring at her as if she was an idiot. "So. You would rather have hypothermia than wear a dress. Who would rather have hypothermia than wear a dress?!" Rye was slightly hysterical when he said that. He scrutinised her, waiting for answer with his arms crossed.

Adalia decided not to respond, but gave him a look that clearly said that _she_ would.

Rye went red and exploded in anger. All Adalia could do was lie there listening to his squawks of disbelief. When he was becoming repetitive, she sighed.

"Can I go back to sleep now?"

Rye was brought out of his tirade and looked at her, noticing that she was grey. She gave an impish smile, and he lost track of the direction of his thoughts. Distracted, he sighed and plopped into the chair next to her bed.

"Done now?" Adalia asked sweetly.

Rye gave a dramatic sigh, and then gazed into her purple eyes. "I was worried about you."

Adalia looked into his stormy grey eyes and saw the truth in his words. She also couldn't place something else that she heard in his voice, and it discomforted her. "Sorry." She whispered back.

He saw that she meant this, then nodded and tweaked her nose. "Well, I better let you get some rest, or Sir Meathead will fry me. See ya later."

As Adalia watched him go, she couldn't help but marvel that the nickname Charlie's father had concocted years ago had spread throughout the palace. Almost everyone called him that now.

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Next Chapter: Shang Falcon

**Disclaimer:** I am Tamora Pierce…. Oh, and pigs fly, the sky is purple, kangaroos hop backwards, koalas are bears… need I go on?

(I was bored of the old disclaimer. If you are in any way confused by this one, do your research. Oh, or you could just refer to the previous 12 chapters and check out the disclaimer.)

P.S: for everyone who did not know, koalas are **not** bears, they are marsupials. I should know, living in Australia and all. And if you still wish to remain ignorant, then you can carry on with your delusions.

P.P.S: I am sorry if this upsets people, I was REALLY bored. I also swear the next chapter will be longer.


	14. Shang Falcon

Chapter14: Shang Falcon 

Weeks passed, and Adalia's bout of hypothermia faded into a distant memory, while all of the young pages focused once again on their training.

A month after Adalia's illness, the pages attended a hand-to-hand combat lesson and discovered that a third Shang had joined their masters to torment them – or particularly one of them…

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It was another scorching day of summer as Adalia trekked irritably out of the dining hall to face Eda for yet another impossible private session. She had been tutored one-on-one ever since Lord Padraig and the Shangs had discovered her special talents.

All of the pages immediately noticed a youthful woman – she looked to be about 18 – standing next to Eda and Hakim. She wore the Shang emblem with a falcon in the middle.

Adalia inspected her closely. She was tanned and had shoulder length brown hair, with sun streaks running through it. She moved with an agile and perfectly balanced grace – that is what revealed that she was a fully-fledged Shang most of all – it meant that she wasn't simply a beautiful woman, but deadly as well. Her deep brown eyes were sparkling with delight, and she seemed to be looking at Adalia; inspecting her intensely.

_I don't think I am going to get any delight in what she seems to have planned for me…_Adalia thought with apprehension.

The pages lined up silently in front of the three.

"Good afternoon, my dears. Today we have a new training master. This is Flick Gordon, the Shang Falcon. Now don't get too excited, because she is going to be replacing me in tutoring Adalia – I seem to have caught some of you slacking. I plan to correct this." Eda said dryly, an evil grin on her face.

As the pages split up between Eda and Hakim, Adalia waited back as Flick approached her.

"Hello Adalia. It is nice to meet you. I hear you were giving Eda a run for her money, so I was appointed to take her place, while she knocked some sense into the weaklings." Flick told Adalia pleasantly.

Adalia bowed in greeting. She found herself liking the Falcon. She seemed to have a sense of humour. "And so weak they are, milady."

Flick chuckled, and then said seriously; "Now I don't have many rules. One. Never call me milady – it's Flick – gods know my mother named me to have it used. Two. Follow my instructions without asking questions."

Adalia just nodded, and Flick saw determination creep into those stunning purple eyes. "Good. Now lets see how you do against me. Come on." Flick strode off.

Adalia ran to catch up, and then walked beside her new training master.

When they were in a deserted part of the practise courts, Flick stopped. She didn't wait for Adalia to register she was attacking; she just smoothly swung her leg in a ferocious and lightning fast kick.

Adalia detected the movement, and caught the foot, twisting it so that Flick would be off balance. She then crouched to the ground and tried to sweep Flick's legs from under her.

Flick responded with almost as much speed as Adalia (which was extremely fast) and jumped the legs, then grabbed Adalia, throwing her over her hip.

Adalia responded by following through with the flip, and landing on her feet, maintaining her hold on Flick.

Flick was smiling in glee, and then pried her arm out of Adalia's grip.

Seeing that Flick meant to end the bout, she allowed her grip to be broken, and then waited for the analysis.

"That was brilliant! I am going to enjoy this!" Flick seemed to be talking to herself, and then rubbed her hands together.

"Perfect form, lightning reflexes and strength. Ok girl. All you need to learn are the advanced stuff, just like Eda has apparently been teaching you. You will train with me in the early mornings, as well as at this time. In our training, you will work as hard as any Shang."

Seeing the look on Adalia's face, she laughed, "Oh, it wont be that bad, my girl! Think of all the fun you will have against all the future Shangs who challenge you? You will be able to knock them on their arrogant behinds."

She was still grinning broadly. Suddenly it seemed that Flick realised they had not been training, "Ok. Lets start now."

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The training was extremely hard. Between her classes, the special training, punishment work, and weekly flying with Rye, the months seemed to whisk away to nothing, and before Adalia knew it, she had finished her second year of page training and began her third.

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"It feels so weird without Daniel and Nathan." Charlie said miserably to Adalia, Kaden, Dameon and Kula.

The others nodded miserably in return. The two had been made squires at the end of last year. Sir Owen had taken Nathan as his squire, which meant that Nathan would be spending most of his time on the boarder, guarding against random attacks. At least the two would be together, as Sir Merric had chosen Daniel, who was a regular companion of Owen's; they took charge of some troops of men on the boarder.

Adalia noticed subtle – and large – changes in her friend's appearances. Charlie with his sapphire blue eyes and brown hair had practically shot up over the last year; he was now close to 14 years old. Kula had grown as well; she was just a few inches shorter than Charlie. Adalia had long suspected her friend of nursing a secret crush on Daniel, and assumed that this was why her emerald eyes were so depressed.

_It was interesting while it lasted…_

Adalia had got much pleasure of looking for the subtle signs of Kula's affections. Adalia herself did not nurse a crush, and for that she was glad. It just seemed like so much stress. She herself was too taken up with training, oh, and of course the Goddess's mission to convert the Conservatives – she had varying success, and while flying with Charlie still heard the whisperings of whom she had apparently slept with that week. She found it amusing to follow the gossips, she didn't give a damn what they said, and it was always interesting to see Rye's reaction when he heard them. She had to force him to follow her instead of swoop the offenders. It angered her that he always seemed to act so over protective around her, but accepted it, as he was a good friend, and she could only hope that he would get over it.

Massaging her arm, she groaned, "Flick got back today to continue torturing me."

The others laughed. "Yes, you are getting tortured, but do you realise how lucky you are? You are only 12, going on 13 and are practically good enough to be accepted into the Shang order. Gods, I wouldn't want to take you on." That was Kaden, and his hazel eyes sparkled as he observed her bruised arm.

"Don't get on my bad side then." Adalia warned quietly, eyes flashing ferociously. She said this with all of her contempt for being put through all the extra lessons, and the others shuddered. _I love doing that._ She then smiled, "I've still got it!"

The others relaxed visibly, extremely aware that she hated them talking about her extra abilities. Especially in the morning when she was half asleep. Quite apart from being weaker in the morning, she was scarily stronger, as it seemed she didn't have the same inhibitions about making sure not to hurt them.

"I think you will always have it." Dameon, blue eyes wary, replied dryly.

Adalia seemed shaken out of her reverie, looked up absently and saw them all watching her warily. "Sorry, I am just a little drowsy."

The others shook their heads, and then continued eating.

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A few months later, the small group was in Kula's room, trying to complete the work that they had been cursed with. Well, at least Kula and Adalia were working; the boys were in a heated discussion on which court lady was the most beautiful.

"No, it's Jayda of Elyve. Did you see those full red lips?" Charlie was saying hotly.

"No, it's Tahlia of Grayson." Dameon yelled, a vacant smile on his face.

"No, it's Calri of Dean!" Kaden shouted ardently.

This continued on for all of a few seconds, as Kula grabbed Charlie by the neck in a choke hold, and Adalia grabbed Kaden and Dameon by the front of their shirts, lifting them a centimetre off the ground.

"STOP IT!" Adalia yelled ferociously, and all three quietened instantly. "SOME of us are trying to work, and you lads are being idiots!"

Adalia stared evilly at the three of them, and when they didn't reply, she went on, "Now. I trust that we can trust you three to play nice?" The three nodded quickly, white from the show of anger that Adalia displayed; it had never been fully directed on them.

Adalia waited a few more moments, and then signalled Kula to let go of Charlie while she lowered Dameon and Kaden. They stood, staring at Adalia with terrified expressions. Adalia was a good five or six inches shorter than Kaden, who was again shorter than Dameon.

They continued to stay frozen even while Adalia turned around and went back to her work.

After she had been working a while, she realised that the boys were still quiet. She looked back up to find them in the same place she and Kula had left them. "What are you doing?" She asked them, confused.

They all seemed to let out a breath, and then Charlie said, "Making sure you weren't going to come back. Gods you are scary."

Adalia looked at Kula, and then the two broke out in hysterical laughter. The boys turned red and then sat down, which only made the girls laugh harder.

---------------------------------------------------

After that lesson, the boys avoided discussing the court beauties in front of Adalia, but she noticed that Kula seemed to be repetitively accosted by them to listen and comment on their poetry. The only way Kula could avoid this was to be with Adalia, and the girls laughed at their love-struck friends.

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It was the morning of Adalia's 13th birthday (which is near the end of her 3rd year as a page) and Adalia was yet again being tortured by her evil personal Shang, Flick. The two were actually very good friends, but Adalia always referred to the woman as such.

"Hurry up!" Flick yelled. Adalia sped up so that it was hard for anyone to see her limbs whipping through a highly complicated hand-to-hand practise routine.

Ten minutes later, Adalia abruptly stopped, chest rising and falling quickly. Flick slapped her on the back. "Brilliant!"

Adalia smiled at her, "I am so very happy that you approve."

"Ok. Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

Like they had done many times before, they trekked over to the woman's bathhouse to wash away the sweat and grime of the morning's exertions.

They were both done, and Adalia was pulling on an oversized shirt when Flick spoke up; "Why do you always do that?"

"What?" Adalia asked, confused. The two walked out of the dressing room and set off towards the pages mess.

"Wear over sized clothes? The boys are bound to notice some time, they aren't _that_ blind."

Adalia turned red, and looked at her shoes. "It's easier like this, I prefer to stay inconspicuous, hopefully until I get my shield. I don't want them going softer than they already are. They would treat me differently, and I would be bugged all the time." She said bluntly.

Flick laughed, "Ah, you are a strange one, but I can see why you might not want to attract that kind of attention; gods I had enough trouble, and Shang is the hardest kind of training around!"

Adalia grinned at her teacher and friend, the smile creeping into her purple eyes, "they don't hit hard enough as it is – I don't need to give them other reasons to be reluctant."

The two looked at each other with understanding, and then went their separate ways.

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Adalia walked into the mess to a loud shout of "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" She stared at all the pages, shocked.

After a few moments, she had gathered herself enough to ask quietly, "How did you find out?"

She then noticed Alanna come forward to hug her. She whispered "Happy Birthday" into Adalia's ear.

"_You_ told them?"

"Well, I noticed that you didn't seem willing, and I can't have my favourite granddaughter going without a birthday party three years in a row!" Alanna said, with a tinge of exasperation.

Adalia rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but grin as she saw her friends run up and wish her happy birthday. She then went and took a seat next to them. "You should have told us before!" Charlie said in exasperation.

Adalia cleared her throat and said, "Well, I didn't want –"

"- To cause a fuss!" They all said in together.

"You know me too well." Adalia grumbled. They all knew that she was happy, but she hated big things.

"It's just as well the Lioness told us. Did you think we didn't notice that you didn't tell us when your birthday was?" Kula asked, with the air of explaining to a two year-old that one plus one equals two.

Adalia shook her head, but had a huge grin on her face.

"Thankyou." She said quietly.

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Next Chapter?

**Disclaimer**: I am not Tamora Pierce.

I hope you guys enjoyed that. The next should be better. Please Rate and Review!


	15. Pranks

**Chapter 15: Pranks**

Adalia was lounging in Kaden's room next to Kula and Charlie, trying to convince Dameon to do her homework.

"Come on. I know you will do this for a friend." Adalia said, batting her eyelashes at him.

"You are mad. I have never done it for you before, why should today be any exception?" Dameon inquired, scrutinising his friend.

Adalia was staring at the ceiling. The others could see an expression on her face that they had all come to associate with problems in the near future.

"Whatever you are thinking, don't." Charlie quickly told her.

_I think that may work…_ Adalia was thinking to herself, and then noticed her friends regarding her nervously. "What?" She asked them with an innocent smile.

"Oh no. Whatever you were just thinking, don't even mention it. I learnt not to go along with your plans after being stuck on the roof of the stable – twice!" Dameon said sarcastically.

Adalia smiled mischievously, "That wasn't my fault! You should have been able to avoid Lord Padraig. Why didn't you just jump down?"

"Adalia, you seem to be conveniently forgetting that you can jump way further than us." Kula said, exasperated.

"Oh, but this time I swear he will want to do my homework, when I tell him what I will do! It won't hurt anyone." Adalia replied, still lying lazily.

"Oh sure. As if!" Dameon retorted. "I am not doing your homework."

"No, not all of it, just my maths. You've done all yours."

"No."

"Don't you even want to hear what's in it for you?" Adalia asked persistently.

"Just let her tell you, she won't stop until she does." Kula put in, hiding a smile while watching Adalia. Adalia could be very persistent when she wanted to, and didn't give up on an idea until she either followed it through, or was convinced that it wouldn't work.

"Fine." Said a resigned Dameon.

"Oh cheer up. I have a nice treat in stall for Lord Padraig, but I can't do it if I'm doing maths now, can I?"

"And what might this treat be?" Kula inquired, eyes dancing.

"Oh. I can't tell you. If I tell you, I may just have to kill you." Adalia said absently, still involved in looking at her treat from all angles.

"That good, is it?" Charlie said, interested.

Adalia just nodded.

"I am still not doing your homework." Dameon said stubbornly.

"If you do, I will introduce you to Sarra." Adalia offered. Sarra had become quite the beauty, and admirers constantly accosted her. At this, all three boys sat up straighter and gazed at their friend with barely concealed hope.

"REALLY?" Dameon asked quickly, at the same time Kaden and Charlie said, "No fair!"

Adalia nodded, and Dameon jumped forward to grab her maths homework.

"Anything I can do?" Charlie asked Adalia.

Adalia got up off the bed, and absent-mindedly glanced at her other two friends, who were glaring daggers at Dameon. "Nothing comes to mind."

Charlie and Kaden went back to their homework looking disappointed, and Adalia took one look at her friends and gave an over exaggerated Players bow, "I am off to give Lord Padraig his treat now. Wish me luck."

The four applauded as she exited the room. "What do you recon she's going to do?" Kula inquired.

The four looked at each other. "Whatever it is, I bet it's going to be big. She has never asked us to do her homework before, so I guess Lord Padraig will REALLY want to find the perpetrator, meaning he will check which page completed less work to see if they did it." Dameon said thoughtfully, indicating her homework.

After considering this, and then considering Adalia's creativeness, they all quickly got to work on their homework

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The next morning while the pages were in the mess for breakfast and Adalia and her friends were joking as usual, when a red-faced Lord Padraig stormed in. Ok, red didn't do the colour of his face justice. It was more of a purple-black and maroon colour, and he looked like he was ready to kill someone.

"EVERYONE FOLLOW ME NOW!" He roared, and all the pages instantly sprang up and followed the furious man. Some of the younger pages seemed close to wetting their pants. Kula, Dameon, Charlie and Kaden were sneaking glances at Adalia, who was acting curious, as she usually would be.

The pages had to jog to keep up with the training master as he mounted the wall that ran around the palace. That was where they got a spectacular view of something that made the pages stand in awe.

Adalia sat there observing her masterpiece thinking, _It really is sad that I won't get to take responsibility for this. Oh well, it will be better for me to remain anonymous, particularly since I am enjoying my neck connected to my body…_

Lord Padraig was striding up and down the line of pages, scrutinising their faces as they observed the spectacle. Most faces were a mixture of shock and awe. Some, like Adalia, were brave or amused enough to laugh quietly. Fortunately, Adalia realised that he was looking for out-of-character reactions, and she also knew that he would expect her to laugh.

For what was hanging from the impossibly tall flagpole but Lord Padraig's underwear.

"Do any of you know who did this?" Lord Padraig said, voice deathly quiet. He was passed the roaring stage, into the even more dangerous form of anger.

The pages all shook their heads, unable to drag their eyes away from their training master's underwear, which must be visible all over Corus. However had done it had included a large label.

Adalia could not help but burst out laughing again. This situation was hilarious – the man could even threaten pages while his underwear was being displayed, fluttering in the wind. He narrowed his eyes and stomped down to Adalia.

"Did you do this?" He asked furiously.

It took Adalia a few minutes to get herself under control long enough to form an articulate answer. The other pages were looking at her as if she was mad; an angry Lord Padraig usually demanded instant halt in any form of happiness or humour.

"N-No. It's just funny, milord." Adalia managed to stutter, hands clasped behind her back.

Lord Padraig glared at her. She met his eyes resolutely, and he held her gaze.

He suddenly turned back to observing the pages, thinking _She would just do that if it was her or not._

After observing the dismal expressions on all the other pages (he ignored Adalia who kept succumbing to laughter, as was her nature) the bell signalling the start of the first class rang. "I _will_ find out who did this." He shouted at them, and then dismissed them.

While the pages trudged off the wall and to the writing class, Adalia wore a satisfied smile; watching nobles, servants and soldiers seeing her prank for the first time.

"How did you keep laughing, even when he was staring right at you?" Dameon asked Adalia during their maths class.

Adalia turned her head to look at him, and said, "It was funny."

"_It_ was, he wasn't. I thought he was going to have a heart attack!" Charlie informed her, a grin on his face.

"Maybe." Adalia replied absently, still delighting in the brilliance of her plan.

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After lunch, Lord Padraig worked all of the pages twice as hard. He had apparently not yet caught the perpetrator, even though he had personally interviewed the guards that were on duty. He had also secretly checked with all the pages teachers, to see if one of the pages did unusually less homework the previous night. The only thing he _had_ managed to do was to detach his underwear from the flagpole.

He knew who he suspected it to be, but he had no _evidence_ that it was the page, which coincidentally, was _why_ he believed Adalia did it.

As Adalia went through a complicated sword drill, she noticed that Lord Padraig seemed to be glaring in her direction. _I know very well that he knows I did it, nut he can't do anything unless he gets evidence! How fun is this?_ Adalia allowed herself a satisfied smile while she watched the still angry Lord Padraig terrorise a second year because they had gotten their grip wrong.

At the end of the lesson, Alanna went over to Adalia. "Did you pull that prank on Padraig?" She asked bluntly.

Adalia appeared shocked. "You think _I_ did it?"

"Yes." Alanna was amused, and didn't hide the fact that she believed it was good for Padraig to be taught humility.

"Believe what you will." Adalia said grandly, and then ran to catch up with the pages exiting the courts.

Alanna stood watching the girl catch up to the group. _She didn't tell me she did it, but neither did she deny it._ She mused with more than a little amusement.

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That night, Adalia had snuck out of the pages wing and was sitting on the large wall that surrounded the palace. Her legs dangling over the side, she was in a state of supreme relaxation. She couldn't get to sleep, and had decided that she may as well spend the time cementing the look on Lord Padraig's face when he had first discovered his underwear flying 40 meters in the air in her mind.

Looking up, she saw a full moon and countless stars glistening overhead. Corus was a large collection of lights far bellow. Even though she could not see the buildings, the beauty of the city at night took her breath away. Suddenly a sharp burst of wind made her acutely aware of the fact that she was not wearing a coat of any kind, and she shuddered and crossed her arms over her chest. Much to her surprise, she felt a blanket being wrapped around her.

Turning her head to look for whoever had put the blanket on her, she was astounded to see Rye climbing up onto the wall next to her. _I didn't even notice him coming_ Adalia thought bitterly. "What are you doing?" She asked him, suspicious.

"Making sure you don't get hypothermia _again_." Rye teased.

Adalia ignored this, and went back to examining the moon. The two sat in companionable silence.

After a while, Adalia noticed that Rye was watching her. She turned quickly to glare at him, but noticed that he didn't mean anything bad by it.

"Um… Adalia…" Rye seemed to force himself to say.

His voice was soft, and Adalia moved closer to discern what he was saying. "Yeah?"

"Umm. I…" Rye would not meet her eyes, and Adalia was tempted to shake him. _Since when has Rye been this…quiet? I usually can't get him to shut up._ Adalia thought, exasperated.

"What Rye? Spit it out!"

"Yet again, Adalia. Patience!" Rye said absently. He grabbed her hands and warmed them in his. He then drew in a large breath.

Adalia was watching him confused. This was not like Rye, who was always joking and playing around with her.

"Um… Adalia, I li-"

"What are you two doing here?" One of the sentries yelled at them. He was a large man, very imposing.

Rye dropped Adalia's hand like it was a hot coal, and said to the guard, "Well, we _were_ enjoying the scenery, but I guess now we will have to go to bed, like good children." He said to the guard, irritated. He then spun and leapt down from the wall.

Adalia didn't know why he was so annoyed, but she took the offered hand, allowing Rye to help her jump to the ground.

As the guard moved on, Rye seemed to be inspecting her. She looked up into his face, and realised that he was thinking hard. "Um… Rye. What were you going to tell me?" She reminded him tersely.

He seemed to come back to the present, and looked at her, "Oh. Nothing…don't worry about it. Night."

And with that, he turned and walked away. Adalia watched his retreating back. _I wonder what he wanted to tell me_ she thought, curious. She noticed she still he the blanket he had given her wrapped around her shoulders, but decided to go around once she had some free time to return it.

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**Disclaimer**: Not TP

I hope you guys enjoyed. Please R&R. If I get heaps I swear I will update sooner. I probably will do it anyways, but yeah. I also want to thank everyone who already has reviewed. You can't know how much I appreciate your kind comments!


	16. Exams

**Chapter 16: Exams**

The big exams that all the pages had to take started about a week after Adalia's prank on Lord Padraig.

It was early in the morning, and surprisingly Adalia was pacing around her small room, already dressed for the test. If she passed, she would be a fourth year page. _I know everyone says they are easy, but there is always a chance that I will fail._

Adalia forced herself to stop pacing, and walked out her door, slamming it shut.

"Hey Kula." Adalia said while lounging against the frame of Kula's door. She was amused to see that the tall girl was even whiter than usual; her emerald eyes were more pronounced then ever.

Kula stopped pacing to see Adalia lounging against her doorframe. "You don't fool me, I know you are just as nervous."

"Yeah, sure. But instead of hiding it by being expressionless" – Adalia indicated Kula's blank face – "I employ different emotions. It's much more fun, and you can even start making yourself believe it after a while." Adalia said pleasantly, eyes sparkling.

Kula shook her head and a small smile slipped through her mask. "Are you saying that just to say something, or do you mean it?"

"Both."

Kula shook her head at her friend. Both were startled when their three other friends came trooping into the room, and then saluted in front of Kula.

"Reporting for inspections Sir." They said together, saluting Kula.

Adalia started laughing while her friend carefully went over their appearance, making sure that not a hair was out of place. "You boys will have to learn to dress yourself, you know." Adalia commented dryly.

Kaden looked at her and grinned mischievously, "Well, you see, that is what we are avoiding. Kula checks us now, and then if we ever need to be this dressed up in the future, we can get a girlfriend or someone to do it."

"Ah, but you'll never learn to fend for yourselves." Adalia told them sorrowfully.

"Don't need to, so why should we?" Charlie asked, just as Kula finished inspecting them.

"Fit for duty soldiers. Dismissed." Kula said in a voice that imitated Lord Padraig's.

The boys saluted and marched all the way to the page's mess hall. Kula and Adalia followed at a distance, after Adalia had pointed out, "Do we really want to associate ourselves with them?"

Breakfast was an unusually quiet affair; all the pages spent the time playing with their food, sneaking glances at the table on the platform, which today seated the examiners as well as Lord Padraig and their teachers.

Suddenly Lord Padraig stood up. "We are going to start the examinations. First years are taking them first. Follow our examiners out."

White faced first years stood up and trekked out of the hall after the grim looking men. When they had all left, Lord Padraig addressed the other pages. "You will all wait here until it is your turn. Second years will go next, and so on." With that, he sat back down.

"I swear he is enjoying torturing us." Adalia muttered to her friends.

"What else? He still hasn't found the person who strung up his underwear _Adalia_." Charlie said.

"Its not my fault, he would enjoy this anyway." She pointed out.

"I guess." Charlie said nervously.

"You guys are lucky. This is your last year of the exams." Dameon reminded Kula and Charlie.

They both glared at him, and Kula said, "That may be so, but it just means ours is way harder."

Dameon looked like he was going to argue, and Adalia cut across him, "Stop it you two. Arguing won't change anything, except annoy everyone."

"True." Charlie said nervously, and silence fell between them once again, as they went back to worrying about the exams.

Looking around, Adalia realised that she was the only one of them who _looked_ relaxed. It didn't mean that she was, but she had decided it much better to try to be confident.

Two bells later, Kula and Charlie were sitting alone nervously. The third years had left quite some time ago to take the exams, and none of the previous groups of pages that had left had returned.

A crow that was hopping on the windowsill drew Kula's eye. It was tapping at the glass and cawing loudly. She nudged Charlie and pointed it out. "Do you recon that's Adalia?" She whispered.

Charlie looked up at the crow, which was now looking at them and bobbing up and down. He smiled thinly at it. "I guess so. It would seem that she has passed, and wants to tell us it's not hard."

The two looked at each other, and then relaxed while they watched their friend, who was obviously trying to distract them from being nervous.

Suddenly one of the servants entered the hall and summoned the fourth years. They jumped up, feeling much more confidant and followed the others.

Adalia watched them go, and then took off, gliding back to her rooms. She had managed to pass with flying colours, and was so relieved that she had decided to take her friends' minds' off the impending exams.

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Lunch was soon, and Adalia sprinted towards the mess, excited to see how her friends had done.

"Hey! How did you go?" She asked, smiling.

"Brilliantly! Thankyou." Kula said to Adalia, giving her a quick hug.

"I don't know what you're talking about. How could I possibly have anything to do with you passing?"

Kula and Charlie gave her an amused look, and Kula just said, "You know what you did."

Adalia just shoved some food in her mouth, deflecting further conversation.

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After they had finished eating, Lord Padraig stood up. "I am pleased to hear that all of you passed your exams. Congratulations fourth years. Knight masters will select you sometime over the next two weeks. As for today, you can have the rest of it off."

The pages cheered and picked up their plates, depositing them at the kitchens.

"Why don't we go for a ride? It will be the last time we will be able to in forever." This last she directed at Kula and Charlie.

"Good idea! We can have a race!" Kaden said enthusiastically.

Adalia ran past them, easily beating them to the stables. She was glad to see Anika, who called a greeting. She responded enthusiastically and opened the door to her stall, asking her to stand still while she groomed her glistening chestnut hide.

Finally saddled, she walked out of the stall, Anika following. "Hey, slowpokes! What are you doing? Hurry up!" She called teasingly to her friends, who were in various stages of saddling their mounts.

She was extremely surprised to see Rye waiting for her just outside the stables, his grey gelding Diablo waiting patiently while calling an enthusiastic greeting to Anika.

"What –" Adalia began, confused.

"I thought I would ride with you all. Charlie said I could." Rye said.

"Fine. But be prepared to lose." Adalia said teasingly.

"Today it will be you who loses." He stated grandly.

"What makes you say that, my young mage? It's not like this has been proved before." Adalia reminded him while swinging onto Anika's back.

"- Because _I_ will win" Charlie cut across, grinning broadly and leading out his coal black mare, Tunza. (Which meant protect in Yamani – Kula had named her, because Charlie couldn't think of one.)

Both Adalia and Rye snorted in derision, and said together, "As if!"

It was then that Kula joined them with Tama, who was as irritable as ever. Dameon and Kaden followed soon after.

When they were all mounted, Adalia pointed to the woods. 'Let's get going!"

She asked Anika to gallop, and her ever-excitable horse reared up just before jumping into a gallop.

Had she not been accustomed to Anika doing this she would have fallen off, but as it was, she knew all too well Anika was likely to do that, and gripped tightly with her knees before letting out a ringing battle cry and leaving the others in the dust.

"HEY!" Dameon yelled after her. The next to go was Rye, who quickly asked Diablo to follow. The other four just stared after them for a few moments, the image of Adalia and Anika gracefully galloping off fresh in their minds.

"She hasn't learnt patience yet has she?" Kula asked, amused and half laughing before she kicked Tama into a gallop.

Charlie was the next to go, replying to Kula, "Adalia or Anika?"

"Both!" Replied Dameon as he caught up to his friends, Kaden close behind.

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The others could only just see Rye and Adalia racing up ahead, in the distance. It looked like Adalia was winning. Finally the two slowed down enough for the others to catch up.

"Took you guys long enough!" Adalia laughed when she saw her friends get closer.

"It isn't our fault! You could have warned us!" Kula said, a touch of annoyance in her voice.

"You should be used to it by now. It's one of my charms." She informed them.

They laughed at her. Finally Rye managed to reply, "True. We can't fault you there."

Adalia fluttered her fingers at him, a court lady's gesture of acceptance.

"Anyways, why not go for a swim? It is hot out here." Adalia said matter-of-fact, and then she and Anika plunged into the lake that they had been racing around. They managed to wet the others, and Adalia went in further, so Anika was swimming. Spotting a nice flat piece of ground, she asked Anika to come up there. She rejoined her friends, now thoroughly wet.

"You are crazy!" Dameon said, exasperated.

"It was fun, so I did it!" Adalia was smiling cheekily at her friends, who looked a mixture of annoyed and amused. "Little help, Rye?" She asked tentatively.

He sighed, acting frustrated. "It's your own fault that you got wet!"

"Yes, but I knew my loyal mage would get me un-wet." Adalia explained.

"Un-wet isn't a word." Rye pointed out.

Adalia was looking at him, purple eyes wide in the universal gesture of _puh-leese_.

Rye sighed. "Well, I guess I have to, after all, you got _everyone_ wet."

"I knew I could count on you." She told him with a brilliant smile that was to essence of mischief.

Shaking his head, Rye flicked his figures and used his grey Gift to dry all of his companions and himself.

"Much better! Lets race back!" And she and Anika jumped off into a gallop.

The five allowed themselves a groan, and then followed her at the gallop.

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Next Chapter: And then there were three

**Disclaimer**: I am not Tamora Pierce

Thankyou to my loyal fans, and I hope this doesn't disappoint. I swear I have much better fun planned for the future!


	17. Goodbyes

**Chapter 17:****Goodbyes**

Adalia was sitting on Kula's bed, watching her friend pack.

"Why are you packing? You haven't got a knight master yet…"

Kula sat up and looked at her friend, and then sighed, "If I _get_ a knight master, I want to be ready straight away. There is no point delaying what I will have to do anyway, because you know very well that even if I _don't_ get a knight master, I'll still have to move into the squire's wing."

Adalia sighed. "I know. Don't be so – disheartened. I think that you are going to have an offer pretty soon." She finished this with a devious smile plastered on her face.

"What –" Kula asked, catching the hint.

"Oh, don't mind me." Adalia said grandly, and with that, she stood up and gave Kula a fleeting hug, then ran out of the room, laughing.

"Oy! Come back here!" Kula jumped after Adalia.

Adalia led Kula through the palace, alternately slipping into secret passages that she had come to learn, those that would bring her out just in front of Kula. When she was outside the rooms that she had been aiming for, she slipped inside, making sure that Kula saw her enter.

She gave a bright smile and thumbs up to the occupant, and then jumped clear out of the second story window, landing softly on her feet, before continuing on.

Or at least that was what she _planned_ to do. Just after she had landed, a shout of "Hey Adalia!" stopped her in her tracks.

Knowing the voice, she turned around slowly, a sheepish grin on her face. "Um… hi Rye. I have a perfectly good reason for being here."

He chuckled as he caught up to her, "Don't bother with excuses – I asked the Lioness where I might find you and she said you'd be 'dropping by' here very soon."

"Fine then, but lets just get away from here!" And with that, Adalia ran off, Rye on her heels.

After about five minuets, Adalia slipped into a small garden, under a tree. Rye followed silently. Adalia flopped onto the ground, back leaning against the tree, and put her hands behind her head.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Adalia asked casually.

Rye fell down beside her, mimicking her posture, and then said, "Well, I really wanted to say goodbye."

At this Adalia's eyes flew open in shock and she turned to scrutinise Rye, "Why would you be saying that?"

Rye opened his eyes and looked straight into Adalia's purple; "I have to go with the Riders and Own for a few months. There are some immortals that are causing problems, and they need me to find them." He said with a sigh.

"How long will that take?" Adalia asked, still shocked.

"About three – maybe four months." Rye ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

"Well, just promise you don't get yourself killed. If you do I will never forgive you." Adalia said sarcastically, but with a thread of seriousness in her voice.

Rye lent over and gave her a fleeting hug, and then kissed her on the forehead. "I wouldn't dream of it."

He leapt up and walked away, leaving Adalia to wonder at the unfamiliar tenderness of his touch.

"When did he get so…weird?" She muttered to herself, confused.

She was bored, so that is how she ended up with her sword, following complex drills. She was practising in her favourite spot - the roof above the page's rooms.

With a flourish she ended what had to be the tenth sword drill she had done and realised with a start that it was grey outside. Muttering to herself, she vaulted the small fence and swung down into her bedroom. She quickly splashed water on her face and ran a brush through her black hair, then sprinted out of her room, heading towards the mess.

Slipping in, she thanked the gods that Lord Padraig had not arrived yet, and sat down next to Kula.

Kula had a dreamy smile on her face as she regarded Adalia. "I guess you know who offered to take me on as a knight master today?"

"I might." Adalia said slyly. She could see that Kula wanted to tell her anyway.

"The Lioness! She said that since I had the Gift for healing, she would teach me to be a knight at the same time as training me in my gift – just like she did for my Da!" Kula gushed excitedly. "And she is going to be going out next year with the Own, as well as visiting Pirate's Swoop!"

"I know. And I think it's fantastic!" Adalia informed her. "Charlie, have you found someone?"

"You mean has someone found _me_… and yes. Lord Raoul decided he would take me on – I don't know if it was for my Ma or me, but it would seem as though he has become interested in my squire years." Charlie replied, excited. He then said apprehensively, "Ma says I'll be flying in the jousting practise."

Adalia laughed, "You're mum survived, and you will as well. You have the same cool head in battle. Anyway, I bet he would be forced to take a squire at the end of next year regardless; he's probably just doing it this year to avoid being ordered to next year by the King."

The other four looked at her suspiciously, "Why?"

"Well, I 'happened to overhear' that there is going to be another Grand Progress in the year after next. It is time for the monarchs to once again venture out of their grand palace and do a census of Tortall." Adalia said elegantly.

The others just stared at her. "How the _heck_ would you know when they are planning to do it? All everyone knows is that it will be sometime in the next five years!" Kula whispered, shocked.

Adalia scratched her chin and said thoughtfully, "There are merits to being a crow."

"Fine. But lets promise not to talk of this again. It could get you into _way_ bigger trouble than if Lord Padraig discovered you strung up his underwear." Dameon said, nervously looking around.

They all nodded, and then continued eating, thinking of the impact this would have on their squire years.

At the end of the meal, Lord Padraig got up and announced, "All squires please pick up their trays and move to the Squire's table." He gestured towards a long table, which at that moment held about ten squires, varying in age from 15 to 17.

All the pages applauded and cheered their friends that crossed the mess, triumphantly joining the squires.

As Kula and Charlie sat down at the table, Adalia leaned closer to Kaden and Dameon, "And then there were three…"

The boys nodded. Suddenly Kaden looked distressed, "Oh no!"

"What?" Adalia and Dameon asked together, worried.

Kaden grabbed Dameon. "We are stuck with – _her_!" At this he pointed a shaky figure at Adalia.

All of a sudden Dameon burst into laughter, and Kaden couldn't resist joining in.

Adalia's purple eyes were sparkling. _They are lucky I am feeling in a laughing mood…_

She couldn't help but smile as she informed him, "Oh, I am truly sorry to inform you… but you've been stuck with me for years. How did you not notice?"

"Oh, and you look soo sorry." Dameon turned to Kaden, "But she's right. I think I remember something about a violent temper…"

"Oh, yeah! And someone being impatient." Kaden responded, furrowing his brow like he was trying to remember something.

"OH! And someone who sleeps in!" They said together, identical grins on their faces.

"Of course. Pick the bad traits to remember." Adalia grumbled, playing at being hurt. "You wound me so deeply."

Kaden looked at his friend, and then put his fingers to his temples, "Wait – there's more! She is a good friend, very loyal…"

"…And funny…"

"…And interesting, kind, compassionate, selfless…"

Adalia cuffed the boys softly, and then pretended to brighten, "Why thankyou! That makes me feel much better!"

They all broke out into louder laughter, and then deposited their dinner trays, heading back towards their rooms.

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Very early the next morning, Adalia slipped out of bed, threw on some clothes, and splashed her face with water.

Even though she had _planned_ to wake up at this time, it didn't stop her being in a black mood, cursing in Kyprish when she stubbed her toe on the side of her trunk. Glancing out the window, it was still mostly black outside.

She threw on an extra coat and approached her window. She vaulted out and landed squarely on her feet, then trotted off towards the Rider's barracks. Spotting a lot of Riders mulling about, she searched for one particular person. She spotted Commander Buri and Lord Raoul in a corner, and even though she wasn't looking for them, she walked in their direction, looking for a certain someone.

Threading through the horses that were in her way, and asking others to move, she scanned the crowd.

She smiled cheerfully when Rye caught her eye, and it took her a few moments to reach him through the chaos of the early morning departure. She could still see Riders exiting the stables, leading two of the mountain ponies each, which were so good over the tough terrain.

When Rye saw her, he jumped off Diablo. "I didn't think you got up until absolutely necessary." He joked, stormy eyes sparkling.

"I made an exception. I thought it would be poor of me not to bid goodbye to a friend." Adalia told him, and then yawned.

He chuckled, "even so, I think you are more asleep than awake."

"You may be right there." Adalia admitted. She reached out to pat Diablo, and addressed the horse. "Keep an eye on him for me." Diablo whickered an affirmative, and Adalia turned back to Rye.

"Goodbye. And Good luck." She told him, careful to look cheerful, instead of miserable that she wouldn't be able to see him for months.

"Thankyou." There was a flurry of movement, and the two noticed that Buri had signalled the Riders to mount and get ready for immediate departure.

They turned to each other, and Adalia jumped forward to give him a hug. She felt him stiffen in surprise for a moment, but then he drew her into his arms, comforting her. Suddenly they broke apart, and Adalia stepped out of the way while Rye jumped back onto Diablo.

She waved at him while he rode out next to Buri. She couldn't help thinking that this might be the last time she saw him. She had to brush away a few tears errant that had leaked out, and then ran back to her room. The light was now grey, and she took a tremendous leap up into her room.

This was the time that she would usually practise with Kula, but the problem was that now she had moved into Alanna's rooms she was short a partner – and teacher.

Cursing her stupidity, she hefted the glaive that had been Kula's last midwinter gift. Adalia then slipped out of her window, this time heading for the roof.

_I can't believe it! It's like she has turned me into a morning person!_ Adalia observed bitterly, while performing a complicated pattern dance, twirling the deadly weapon around at a high speed.

An hour later, she slipped back into her room, storing the glaive, and then rushed towards the mess, gathering a sleepy Dameon and Kaden on her way.

As they sat down, Adalia swept her eyes over the squire's table, and didn't see Kula or Charlie.

"Hey. Where do you think they are?" She asked the two.

They turned around and looked over the table, then Kaden said, "Charlie said that the Own were going Immortal hunting as well. The Lioness went too. Hey! That means we won't have her for swords training!" He ended excitedly.

"Don't get too excited." Adalia dryly informed him, "My own Evil Personal Shang has decided to fill in for the Lioness this year while she is away."

"The Falcon?" Dameon asked.

"Who else?" Adalia muttered darkly, playing with her food.

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Next Chapter: Darkings

**Disclaimer**: I am not TP

I hope you enjoyed it. I know it's sad that Rye had to go, but they wont stay out of contact for long, so _please_ try not to murder me!


	18. Darkings

**Chapter 18: Darkings**

The pages learnt quickly that Flick meant business. She had the same level of skill as the Lioness (obviously, because she _is_ a Shang) and delighted in working them to the bone.

A few weeks after Rye left with the Riders, Adalia was stuck in yet another sparring match with Flick, while the other pages lined up, carrying out set drills. Every now and then Flick would yell things at them like, "Correct your grip!" or "Don't look at what we are doing, worry about where you may be hit next!"

Adalia closed in on Flick, twirling her sword in circle, and succeeded in disarming her. A heartbeat later her blade came to rest at the Shang's throat.

Flick smiled warmly, "Good job, Adalia. You should watch your left handed sweep though, it was a little off."

Adalia grinned and used her feet to launch her training master's sword off the ground, and then plucked it out of the air with her right hand, which at that moment was empty. Flick had insisted that she duel by swapping the blade between her hands, so that she would have equal skill with both. She then handed back the sword, and stepped back into the 'guard' position.

Now she could almost always defeat the Shang. Flick laughed at this, and said it was good for her own ego, forcing her to train harder.

Flick turned to Adalia. "Ok. We are going to do something different today. I am going to attack you with the sword, but at the same time in hand-to-hand combat. So make sure you watch everything." Flick mirrored Adalia's guard position, and then aggressively aimed for her left side with the sword.

Adalia quickly twirled away, but found herself tripped by a low roundhouse kick. She made sure she landed and then rolled, just as she had been taught to, and then stood up carefully. She was now aware of the fact that her teacher wasn't going to hold back.

They struggled back and fourth, both Adalia and Flick landing kicks or even punches, along with concentrating on the flashing blunt practise swords. At one moment Adalia was forced to do a weird half flip to avoid her master's kick coming from below, and blocking her sword, which swept down from above.

At last Flick kicked Adalia in the back of her legs, bringing her sprawling to the ground. Before she could get up she felt Flick's blade press to her throat. "I yield!" She gasped out. "Gods that's hard! It's like trying to look left and right at the same time!"

Flick helped Adalia into a sitting position and handed her a water bottle, while receiving one from Lord Padraig. "You did really well though. You didn't panic and forget everything you know like so many others do who are just learning how to combine the two. You won't have to do something that intense against anybody but a Shang, but it is always good to be able to."

Flick watched while Adalia gulped down a lot of water, and then tipped the rest over her head.

"Well. You ready to try again?"

Adalia groaned and pretended to feint. "No." She lay on the ground, eyes closed.

Flick just stood up and kicked away Adalia's sword. She then swung her own sword at Adalia, and just as she suspected, the girl rolled away, just enough so that the sword missed her, and then did a backwards roll that required a lot of strength, which brought her legs over her head so she was standing on her feet.

Adalia grinned and stuck out her tongue, and then did a mocking backwards flip, picking up her sword on the way, and landing on her feet in a perfect guard position.

Flick didn't give her any rest, but closed in quickly, sword flashing, at the same time searching for openings to land a kick or punch.

After all of their lessons, the pages gratefully sat down to dinner. Adalia groaned as she sat on the bench.

Kaden was observing his friend. "She beat you up good, didn't she?"

"If you are referring to my Evil Personal Shang, then I would say you are correct." Adalia said bitterly.

"You know, that looked spectacular!" Dameon said, blue eyes flashing. "I wish I could do that."

Adalia opened her eyes and squinted at her friend, "What? Get beaten up?"

"No! All that swordsmanship mixed with hand-to-hand combat. It was intense. Didn't you notice that all the pages were watching you, as well as all the knights that were practising?" Dameon asked gleefully.

Adalia shook her head at him, "Oh sure. It _looked_ spectacular because I was being beaten up."

"It was crazy. I couldn't see lots of your movements they were so fast… and you don't_ look_ beaten up. Except for that bruise on your arm."

Adalia looked at her right arm and was shocked to see it was purple. "I didn't even _notice_ that one. I am referring to injuries that are not visible, and they hurt _much_ more." Adalia winced as she shifted in the seat.

Her two friends laughed at her, and then returned to shovelling food into their mouths.

About half an hour later, Adalia was relaxing on her bed, having chosen not to go to Kaden's rooms to join in the study. She didn't feel like being with anyone, and she was missing her absent friends. She could feel Shard vibrating comfortingly on her wrist.

The darking had been invaluable to her. It was her connection to her family. She had used it to be in constant contact with her family which, had she been forced to send letters, would have taken months.

"Ady!" Shard squeaked. Adalia was not waiting to be contacted, so this shocked her and she fell onto the floor.

Breathing hard, she addressed the bracelet darking, which had produced a head shape to talk with her.

"Yes Shard?" Adalia brought her wrist closer to her face, but at the same time jumped up and locked her door, then returned to her bed.

"Ady, he say hello."

"Who is 'he' Shard?" Adalia asked wearily.

"Rye." The darking squeaked.

The shock from this almost caused Adalia to fall off her bed again. "_Rye?_"

"Rye say can I speak to Ady?" Shard squeaked.

"Um… yes." Adalia still sat in shock as Shard pooled into her lap and a picture of Rye appeared.

She sat with her mouth open, staring at he image of Rye. "Wh…how…what...? She spluttered.

Rye, grey eyes dancing began to laugh as he saw a thoroughly shocked Adalia staring at him.

"Honestly, Adalia. You didn't think that my Ma would give all the darkings to your mother?" He asked teasingly. Then he added as an afterthought "or should I call you Ady?"

She went red and said, "Why didn't you tell me that you had a darking? And _please_ save me from stupid nicknames!" She added, raising her face to the heavens.

"Not gonna work, _Ady_. Anyways, I didn't realise you had a darking. I was talking to Ma and she hinted that you may… now that I think about it, that is extremely suspicious…but anyway, I am happy that we can talk while I'm away, aren't you?" Rye asked teasingly.

"_Please_ don't call me Ady! And what is your darking's name? And why haven't I seen it before?"

"All you have is questions. I'm hurt." Rye exclaimed with mock sorrow. "My darking's name is Bronze. You haven't seen it because I don't bring it around the palace. Now it's my turn to ask questions. Why haven't I seen yours? Usually we can see them when they are following people, that's how my Ma found the first one."

"It's quite the fashion in the Copper Isles palace to wear them disguised as some kind of jewellery. Shard disguises itself as a bracelet. They are also worn as necklaces, or even in hair." She informed him.

Rye's eyes widened, "That is a brilliant idea! No one does that here, but it sound like a great way to carry it inconspicuously."

"Yeah, well my Ma and Trick were the first to do it." Adalia said proudly.

"I am going to tell the monarchs, I recon it would be extremely practical." Rye said excitedly.

"You always get sidetracked like this!" Adalia said with mock anger. "How is your mission going?"

The two talked about the progress of Rye's mission into the night, and when they finally said goodbye, they promised to talk again at the same time next week.

As Shard transformed back into a bracelet, Adalia changed into a nightshift and settled under her covers. She fell into sleep much faster than she had been able to in the past few weeks, which meant she had no time to dwell on why this may be.

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Training continued as normal for the pages, and the camping trip was largely uneventful, excluding a hedgehog that somehow found its way into Lord Padraig's tent on the last night. Unfortunately Lord Padraig was a firm believer in using healers, and got one of the pages to close his numerous wounds.

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The new batch of first years arrived and, much to Adalia's discontent, there were no new girls. Her intensive training schedule continued as usual, and Adalia had not yet managed to defeat her Shang while duelling with swords and hand-to-hand at the same time – although she could win while doing either separately.

It took much more than just knowing the moves when combining the two; you had to remember that you could do anything, and so could your opponent. She was getting steadily better, but she couldn't help but be frustrated after every lesson, and retreat to some kind of isolation to nurse her new injuries, if only for a few seconds. After this she would quickly brighten, and determine to try better next time.

It was extremely early in the morning when Adalia was woken up by Shard, who was screeching in her ear. Forcing herself to sit up, she concentrated on what it was saying…

"Ady, Rye here!" Shard squeaked excitedly.

Adalia fell out of bed in her haste to get dressed, quickly reminding herself that it had been four months since he had left. Once she had dragged on an extra layer, she vaulted out her window and sprinted over to the Rider's barracks.

A commotion met her eyes as she approached, finding all the returned Riders dismounting grumpily and leading their mounts into the stables. She scanned the crowd and, frustrated that she couldn't see Rye, addressed Shard. "Where's Rye?"

Shard responded by using a piece of the 'bracelet' – a large stone in the middle – to show her what Rye saw; or more accurately, Bronze.

"Thanks Shard!" Recognising the angle, she span around and spotted him seated on Diablo.

She dogged around the incoming Riders, making sure that he wouldn't see her, until she was behind him.

She saw him dismount, and she crept up behind him, carefully telling Diablo not to tell Rye she was there, so that not even he heard her do it with his wild magic. She poked him in the back.

Rye jumped, and turned around quickly, bringing up a defensive position for hand-to-hand combat.

Adalia laughed at him, and he sheepishly put his hands down. "I hate to think what you planned on doing after that, my young mage." Adalia half laughed at him.

Rye shuddered, "If I even tried it… (He scratched his chin, then looked at the pond) I think you would probably throw me in the pond."

Adalia nodded her agreement, "Quite right!"

Rye took a mocking step back and bowed; taking her hand, he kissed it, "I am so pleased to be graced by your incredible presence, that for a moment my manners abandoned me. It's very good to see you after my months of dangerous warrior's work, _Ady_."

"Why thankyou young sir." Adalia played along with him. "But I would thankyou not to call me Ady, you should know by now that my name is Adalia." She made her voice mimic the tones of a flirtatious court lady, but she yanked her hand out of his.

"Alas, that I cannot comply with. You shall be Ady forevermore."

Adalia stayed silent at this, and privately communicated with Diablo, who was still behind Rye. Dropping her act she leapt forward and hugged Rye. "It's good to see you." She whispered into his ear.

"And you." Rye replied. Adalia let him go, and then took a step back.

This was necessary because all of a sudden Diablo head butted Rye into the pond.

All the Riders that witnessed this burst into laughter. Rye stood up in the pond, water dripping from him, and he watched Adalia, who was rolling around on the ground, tears of mirth glistening in her violet eyes.

He glared at her, and reached out a hand, asking silently for her help to get out. Once she had finished laughing, she complied and grasped his hand. Now it _was_ Rye's intension to pull her in, but unfortunately Adalia seemed to have anticipated that, and she just used extra strength to lift him out.

Shocked to be standing on the ground, still feeling weird from being lifted up like he was weightless, he just looked at Adalia, who was grinning wolfishly. Warning bells flashed in his head, but he couldn't do anything about it.

"Now it's my turn!" Grinning from ear to ear, Adalia swept her leg under his, causing him to topple back into the pond.

_This was worth getting up early in early morning for!_ Adalia reflected delightedly, after having collapsed for the second time into tears of glee.

A few minutes later, Rye succeeded in exiting the pond. He was half-heartedly scowling at Adalia, but for some reason he had troubles in keeping up the façade.

It was easier to glare at Diablo, who was at least looking properly ashamed of himself; meekly following his rider into the stables. Adalia, however, managed to stop laughing for a few moments, only to break out into renewed giggles when she looked into his eyes. And unfortunately, she kept following him.

Adalia finally managed to stop laughing, when Rye was halfway through grooming Diablo. She congratulated Diablo on a plan well done, this time allowing Rye to hear the communication.

Rye noticed this, and then something weird occurred to him. "How did you talk to Diablo and _plan this_ without me hearing?" He asked, curious despite himself.

Adalia rolled her eyes at him, "Animals have more than one way to communicate, my dear wild mage." She replied ambiguously. Diablo snorted his agreement.

This intrigued Rye greatly, but by the way Ady had answered, he knew that she wouldn't tell him anything.

Suddenly realising that he was still wet, he used his Gift to dry himself, and the floor around him.

Adalia giggled, "I was wondering when you would notice you were still wet!" And with that, she kissed him on the cheek, quickly followed by the more childish gesture of sticking her tongue out at him, and then sprinted from the stables, thinking she could still fit in a pattern dance before breakfast.

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Midwinter was approaching and it was getting colder and wetter with each passing day. Adalia did not have an extreme aversion to the weather, like her grandmother, but as she put it, 'Any sane person avoids it.' She was constantly wrapped up in at least two coats to keep in the warmth.

The classes had move to the indoor courts as the snow piled up, and Flick constantly teased Adalia for wearing the two additional coats.

"You aren't as fast with the coats to slow you down!" She yelled at Adalia while carefully dogging a precise slash of her practise sword. Backing off quickly, she hadn't expected Adalia to keep coming, and she was kicked spectacularly, landing at least three metres from her original position. She groaned as she felt the cold touch of Adalia's sword. "I yield."

Adalia grinned mockingly. "Too slow hey? I think you must be frozen, which is actually giving _me_ the advantage!"

Flick couldn't help but laugh as the girl helped her to her feet. "Can I have a coat then?"

Adalia looked at her like she was mad, "As if!" And then she proceeded to duck a swipe of Flick's fist.

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Next Chapter: Presents

**Disclaimer**: I am not Tamora Pierce.


	19. Presents

**Chapter 19: Presents**

Midwinter morning dawned bright and cold. After countless altercations with her Evil Personal Shang about staying in bed for as long as possible – she always lost, as Flick would steal her blankets – Adalia delighted in at long last being able to stay sung and cosy beneath her blankets.

As she heard the breakfast bell, she was in conflict with herself over if she would rather stay in bed or eat. Eating won out, and she opened her eyes to gaze out the window, getting a surprise at seeing that even more snow was falling from the heavens, settling over the previous sheets of snow on the ground.

Her resolution almost altered, but at that moment her stomach let out a loud growl, and she cursed before she dragged herself out of bed, staying wrapped in her blankets while escaping into a warm bath.

She was dressed and washed by the time she emerged from the washroom, and it was then that she noticed a pile of presents on the desk near her door.

Adalia couldn't help grinning in delight as she opened the gifts.

Kula had sent her a sharpening kit for blades, Charlie had given her a large note that listed tips for jousting, (as well as a long list of injuries that he had suffered at the hands of his knight master) and it seemed that Daniel, Nathan, Kaden and Dameon had joined together to buy her a number of small and extremely flat daggers, complete with leg sheaths, that she could hide under her clothing.

She savoured every present, hoping that they would like their gifts as much as she appreciated theirs. She stared in awe as she held Rye's present. It was an amethyst on a delicate looking silver chain. A note fell out of the package, and she picked it up and read:

Ady, I hope you like this gift. Now, don't jump to conclusions, this isn't some kind of stupid unnecessary gift; it is spelled to detect poisons or drugs in your food – I did it myself, so make sure you wear it!

_Rye_

After reading the note Adalia gazed reverently at the innocent looking amethyst, and put it around her neck. She was forced to wipe away some tears of appreciation that leaked out, and then tried to distract herself by turning to the last gift.

Yet again she was reduced to standing in shock, overwhelmed at this last display of affection. In her hand lay a beautiful sword. The sheath was plain black, but she recognised the stamp for Raven armoury, meaning it was the best. The hilt fit her hand perfectly, and she drew the sword quickly, marvelling at the sheen of the razor sharp double-edged blade. The hilt had some amethysts worked into it. The note said: '_To Ady, love your grandparents. Goddess Bless.'_

She collapsed on her bed, gaze flicking between all of the gifts. After a few minutes, she drew in a large breath. "There is no point sitting here. I have to go thank them." She muttered.

Forcing herself to stand up, she packed away the daggers in her bag; there was no need of them in the palace. She buckled on her sword sheath and replaced the magnificent sword. Taking a last look out the window, she gathered up another coat and strode out of her room.

She decided to investigate a suspicion of hers, and was proven correct when she knocked on a particular door. "Grandpa!"

She flung herself at George, who scooped her up and twirled her around in circle. When they had both calmed down, and George had set down his granddaughter, Adalia said happily, "Happy Midwinter!"

"Ah, and such a happy one it is, my girl! Do you want to come with me to eat breakfast?"

"Sure! I guess grandma and Kula are back?"

George chuckled, "Yes, you guessed right. They arrived last night, Alanna was complaining about the cold."

Adalia grinned at him as he led her into Numair and Daine's rooms. Adalia hid her confusion, until she saw Alanna sitting hunched by the fire, and Kula next to her, looking decidedly happier.

"Kula!" Adalia almost yelled with pleasure. As Kula looked at her, Adalia couldn't help but notice that she seemed thinner than last year; it looked like she had seen a great many battles. Her emerald eyes brightened when she saw Adalia, and she leapt up to hug her in greeting.

"Hi!"

After a very loud greeting and both of them expressing enthusiastic appreciation of each other's gifts, they settled down around the fireplace and Rye handed Adalia a plate full of steaming hot food.

"Thankyou Rye, for the gift and everything, it's perfect!" She said to him, violet eyes sparkling as she indicated the amulet around her neck.

"It was nothing." Rye smiled in amusement, and deflected further comments by starting on breakfast.

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After they had all eaten, Numair said, "Why don't we all go ice skating?"

Alanna gave him a death glare, but he decidedly didn't look at her. "Come on, everyone is going to go! There is a fairly big pond that has frozen solid, and Alanna, I ought to know since I tested it myself."

Adalia had never tried ice-skating, but it was on her list of things to do, so she gave her grandmother a pleading look, and then said brightly, "I'll try it, but I won't be good."

Alanna scowled at her, "You _know_ that I can hardly leave you to go without me, you'll probably manage to get into trouble." She seemed to consider it and her scowl deepened. "I'm going to get more clothes." George winked at Adalia, and then followed his wife, soothing her.

Once Alanna had left, Adalia realised that the others were staring at her strangely. "What?" She asked, confused. "She's probably right, you know."

Numair shook his head. "No one has been able to get her on the ice in at least twenty years. I applaud you. I think everyone is going to get a shock when she turns up!"

Adalia got up and bowed gracefully, eyes sparkling, "It is my duty to please." She made for the door, but just after exiting, she poked her head back in, "I don't seem to have skates…"

"I'll bring some for you." Numair answered.

"Well, see you. Kula do you want to come say hello to Kaden and Dameon?" Kula nodded delightedly and jumped up to follow Adalia.

As they were walking down the corridor towards the page's wing, Adalia heard Rye shout out, "We'll meet you in a bell in the entrance hall." Adalia nodded, and then the two trekked off to greet the boys.

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In a bell, Adalia, Kula, Dameon, Kaden, and Charlie (who had arrived with Raoul) joined a fairy large group of knights in the entrance hall. Adalia saw Rye approaching them, and she asked a silent question.

"There's a lot of people who insisted on seeing the momentous event of the Lioness on ice." Rye informed her, a wide grin plastered on his face.

"Ok everyone lets go!" Daine shouted, and they all trekked out into the snow towards the pond.

While she was waiting with her friends to exit the doorway, she took track of all the faces that she could recognise – there was Raoul, Buri, Neal, Yuki (Neal's wife, Kula's mother), Lady knight Keladry of Mindelan and Masbolle with her husband Dom, Prince Roald and Princess Shinkokami, as well as, much to her amazement, their Majesties (Jon and Thayet).

_This is certainly some huge event, what with all these well-known knights…_ Adalia mused.

She was well known to most of them, and Adalia couldn't help but be suspicious that Alanna had introduced her to them with the intension of using them to keep an eye on her. She cheerfully greeted them when they noticed her, and then exited the hall, following Kel and Dom.

Watching the others struggling through the snow, Adalia couldn't help but be extremely happy. It had stopped falling from the sky, but it was quite deep, and very wet.

Rye noticed that she seemed to be smug about something, and glared at her. She had a much easier time of it, because she didn't sink much into deep snow, and she was walking easily. Wherever she placed her feet, it looked like the snow was only an inch deep. Everyone else had to plough through at least a foot of snow, leaving huge tracks.

"I hate that you can do that!" He irritably informed Adalia. His pants were freezing cold, and the snow was almost up to his knees.

She laughed delightedly, "There are definite merits to being half crow!" And then she mockingly ran toward the front of the line, lightly stepping on the snow.

She waved at all the knights she passed, earning a few exasperated looks, and then stopped to walk easily next to her grandmother, who was displaying the ability to curse in at least five separate languages.

"I'll need to remember those. Can you speak all those languages? Or can you only curse in them?" Adalia asked cheekily.

Alanna gave her granddaughter a dirty look, "Mostly just know the curses. Being around soldiers really opens up one's opportunities for learning swear words."

"I'd imagine so!" Adalia said, and then she spotted the pond, and shouted, "Pond's up ahead!" So everyone could hear. She heard many a relieved sigh, and she led the way to the ice.

Once Numair caught up, he handed her skates. "Thankyou!" Adalia said cheerfully, and then set to putting them on.

Even though she had wanted to try it, she wasn't so gung-ho about jumping on the ice when it was right in front of her. She stepped over to her grandmother, who was experiencing much the same problem.

"How bout we step out together?" Adalia asked carefully. Alanna nodded, and they carefully stepped onto the ice, sliding a bit.

Adalia watched Raoul and Buri skating easily just a few meters away, and she studied how they moved their feet. She tried to do it herself, and found that she succeeded in moving without falling over.

With considerable concentration, she carefully continued on, but she managed to fall flat on her behind.

She gazed around and saw that the knights had varying degrees of mastery of the blades. She smiled when she saw George skate up to Alanna and drag her along. Adalia tried to stand back up, but found that she couldn't. Rye spotted her on the ground, and skated up, doing a circle around her before stopping in front.

"Ady, why are you on the ground?" He asked, curious.

"Because I love how wet it is." Adalia responded sarcastically. Rye laughed and offered his hand, which Adalia took gratefully.

"Ok. Hold on to me and you won't fall." Rye reassuringly clasped her hand, and started leading her over the ice.

They skated like that for a long time, teasing the Lioness when they lapped her. After a while, Adalia said, "I think I'm ok now. But please stay close." She got a feeling that Rye was reluctant to let her go, but she decided not to comment on it.

They had been skating for most of the day, and Adalia could now rival Rye in speed, when Alanna said loudly, "I hate to be the one to point this out, but if we stay any longer we will miss dinner." This was said with minimal sarcasm, as Alanna had actually done really well that day, even managing to trip Neal.

Everyone looked disappointed, but they all skated back to the edge and removed the blades, chatting happily, pleased to be heading off for a warm meal.

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Next Chapter: Knight Master

**Disclaimer:** I am not Tamora Pierce.


	20. Knight Master

**Chapter 20: Knight Master**

It was the morning of Adalia's fourteenth birthday and she was in the process of following Flick through the palace. In the last few months, the Shang had insisted that she join in a glaive practise that took place insanely early in the morning, and the women that practised included Queen Thayet, Princess Shinkokami, Lady Yuki, Lady knight Keladry (when she was not out with the Own) and other Yamani ladies living in the palace.

"Why can't I have a day off on my birthday?" Adalia grumbled, rubbing her eyes.

Flick just ignored her. She knew that Adalia knew very well why she couldn't have a day off; warriors who had days off usually met an untimely end on the battlefield. Flick also knew that the girl wasn't too bitter; if anyone had a right to be annoyed it was Flick because she could only occasionally beat Adalia at any kind of combat these days. Instead of being annoyed, she was proud that the girl had gained such mastery at so early an age.

They arrived at the courts, and those already practising gave them cheerful greetings. Flick hoisted a glaive and started a sparring match with Yuki, while Adalia reluctantly paired up with Thayet.

Adalia had learnt early on that the Queen tolerated no one going easy on her, and in any case, she was almost a master, having been practising it every morning for Adalia's lifetime and longer. Thus Adalia felt guilty that her own somewhat unconventional and random education on the uses of the glaive, although Flick had continued her education after Kula started her squire years, were enough for her to beat the monarch.

Thayet just laughed when Adalia sheepishly admitted this, and said it was good for her ego, as she was evenly matched with the Yamanis. Adalia easily twirled the glaive around and disarmed the Queen, because just as usual, she was too tired to temper her abilities so early in the morning.

After they had been practising a few minutes, Thayet addressed Adalia teasingly; "I think I am going to leave you to someone who may be able to help _your_ ego. I know mine's bruised."

Adalia just stood where she was while Thayet moved off to start sparring with Yuki. She was all too tired to worry about finding someone. She decided that since there were no more partners left, she would start a pattern dance.

She only had time to just begin when another glaive collided with her own, stopping her smooth downward cut.

This threw out her concentration, and she looked up, surprised. She kept on looking up when she noticed that the woman standing in front of her wielding the glaive was nearly six foot tall, with brown hair and hazel eyes.

Adalia grinned at her, "Milady, I didn't think you'd be back so soon."

Kel smiled back, and removed her blade, moving it into a ready position. "Glad to see you too, Adalia, but remember, call me Kel."

All drowsiness forgotten, Adalia mirrored her movement and concentrated hard, feeling excitement pulse through her veins. Kel was on a level of her own, and Adalia hadn't yet managed to defeat her.

A lightning fast display of skills ensued. Glaive's flashing, the two started a conversation.

"So, how was Elyve?" Adalia inquired while spinning away from Kel's glaive.

"Terrible. There was a large nest of spidrens that we had to exterminate before we could return." Kel responded, while blocking Adalia's onslaught.

"Any casualties?" Adalia continued her attack, limiting Kel to defence.

"No, thank the gods. It was a bloody battle though, one man lost an arm." Kel responded gravely while successfully blocking Adalia, and then feinting to her left side, while swinging around the blunt end of her glaive to rap her legs.

Adalia winced when the end hit her legs, and quickly took a few graceful steps backwards to avoid further injuries. Now limping slightly, she patiently waited for Kel to come in again.

Kel complied, and the two continued to spar furiously, all conversation forgotten, as full concentration was needed.

After a long battle, Kel disarmed Adalia, making her glaive fly across the court, and in the same move, resting her own at the girl's throat. "You've still got a bit to learn, page Adalia."

Adalia broke into a big grin, delighted, "Finally!"

Kel laughed, and finally manage to say, "What?"

"Finally! Do you realise how much my teachers have said lately that they have nothing else to teach me?" Adalia's violet eyes were dancing with glee.

Kel shook her head, "Well, it would seem as though you have a lot to learn from me."

Adalia did a handstand to express her delight, startling laughter out of the ladies gathered around. It was around then that Thayet said, "Well, ladies. I think that's enough practise for today. We better freshen up."

Adalia joined them in the women's bathhouse, and then headed off for breakfast in the mess.

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Two short weeks later, Adalia, Dameon and Kaden were waiting nervously in the page's mess along with the other fourth years to take the dreaded exams that would determine if they could start their years as squires.

A servant came into the hall, "All fourth years, follow me."

Adalia whispered, "Good luck" to her two friends as they all got up and filed slowly out of the hall.

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A bell later Alanna and Kula were waiting nervously for Adalia to exit the exam. Alanna was pacing back and forth, "It can't take this long! It should not be allowed to take this long!"

Kula tried to make herself as unnoticeable as possible, as she had had much experience with her knight master's temper in the past year, and had no wish of bringing it upon herself.

They both looked up as the door that they were waiting by opened and Adalia walked out, face grim. They stood shocked while the girl walked towards them slowly.

"I – I…" She began slowly… "I passed!" She screamed delightedly, dropping her pretence of being sad.

Alanna and Kula stood there, mouths open absorbing that she was intentionally trying to make them believe she had failed. "Don't ever do that again! Honestly…" Alanna began, trying to keep her voice stern, but failing miserably as she swooped in to pull Adalia into a hug. "Congratulations! Was there ever any chance you could fail?"

Kula joined the two, and after a few minutes they calmed down. Adalia said brightly, "Now all I have to do is find a knight master."

"Yes." Alanna agreed. She then bid farewell to her granddaughter, leaving her to pack.

Kula followed Adalia to her room, and the two discussed Kula's recent mission.

Adalia started packing, and Kula watched amused as her friend unceremoniously threw her clothes into a small bag. She had to laugh when Adalia had been looking for a particular dagger, only to find it imbedded in the roof.

"How did it get up there?" Adalia muttered to herself, hand on her chin. She shrugged the question off and jumped up to grab the flat hilt, extracting it from its bizarre perch.

Tucking the dagger into the small of her back, she pronounced, "I have finished packing."

Kula rolled her eyes, "Did that even qualify as packing? It was more like seeing how much you could stuff into that bag!"

"Of course it was packing!" Adalia replied. She then threw the bag into a corner of the room. "Dinner awaits, and by my reckoning I get to eat with you at the squire's table because I am a squire!"

Kula kept her face passive as inside she suffered with her own urge to either laugh or groan. She followed Adalia out of the room towards the mess. They gathered Dameon and Kaden on the way, both of which had also managed to pass.

They all crossed the hall to raucous cheering.

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"Up you get!" Flick wrenched the blankets away from her obstinate student. It was early in the morning, the day after the exams.

Adalia cracked an eye, and upon seeing Flick standing over her, groaned. "This must be a nightmare."

"Nope." Flick informed her happily. "Come on, or you'll be late!"

Adalia groaned and propped herself up on her elbows, glaring at Flick. "I am not a page anymore. You are no longer my teacher!" She said, delighted.

"Don't sound too happy or I'll be sad." Flick joked, and then lifted Adalia bodily out of her bed; pleased to see she had slept in practise clothes. "I am your teacher by choice, so you will practise with me while I am around, small squire."

Adalia twisted out of Flick's hold, but decided it was too much trouble to argue, so she grabbed her glaive and followed the crazy woman out of her room silently.

Adalia perked up when they arrived at the courts and she spotted Kel doing a complex pattern dance.

Grinning mischievously, she snuck up and braced herself to step in. When Kel spun, glaive flashing viciously in a lunge, Adalia blocked her, the noise of the collision ringing out loudly over all the other sounds of practise.

"Can I beg another lesson?" Adalia asked mockingly.

Kel grinned and started to make chopping cuts for Adalia's legs.

At the end of a spectacular bout that finished with Adalia on the ground, Kel's glaive at her throat, Kel offered her a hand. Panting, Adalia found her feet and eagerly accepted a water bottle from a servant that had stopped in his work to observe the spectacle. Kel received one likewise, in much the same condition as Adalia.

Still panting, the two made their way over to a seat, which they collapsed upon. It took a few moments to catch their breath, and consume enough water, for them to be able to speak.

After a few minutes of silence, Adalia realised that Kel was observing her closely. She looked up to her questioningly, shielding her eyes from the sun's glare. "What?"

Kel seemed to check herself, and slid on her Yamani mask, then asked offhandedly, "Would you like to be my squire?"

Adalia's violet eyes widened, and she could do nothing but register shock for a moment. She then stuttered, "I-I would _love_ to! But… you haven't ever taken a squire before…why would you start now?"

Adalia noticed that Kel ever-so-slightly displayed relief at her answer, and the knight responded thoughtfully, "Well, lets see…"

She put up four fingers, and started ticking them off. "One. I suppose you know by now that there is going to be another Grand Progress next year? The King released the news last month. That means that I _have_ to take a squire. Two. The reason I picked you is that you happen to be the best squire ever produced, Three: you are a girl, meaning there will not be some stupid scandal among the conservatives. Oh, and Four: I will enjoy teaching you the finer points of the glaive – as well as jousting."

Adalia looked up at her new knight master, stunned into silence.

Kel laughed, "I do believe that that is the first time that I have ever seen you lost for words."

"First and last." Adalia muttered. She then abruptly stood up and bowed to her knight master. "What will you have your most humble squire do?"

Kel got herself under control quickly and responded, "Well, my 'humble squire' would do best to collect her bags and deposit them into the room in my suite that is specifically there to host squires."

Adalia bowed, "Very good, milady." She started off in the direction of her window, not bothering to go the long way through the palace. Before she was more than a few steps away, she span around.

"And Thankyou." She added more seriously.

Kel just waved her off, and muttered "what have I gotten myself into?"

Flick, who was close enough to hear this, laughed. "You have no idea."

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Adalia hesitantly entered Kel's suite, and saw a small door off to the side. She had to go through an office, but on the other side was a room much like her old one in the pages wing – except it was much cleaner.

She got a surprise after she had dropped her bag when something large and hairy bowled into her, knocking her to the ground, and she screamed.

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Next Chapter: Jousting

**Disclaimer:** NOT TP

Well please rate and review, thanks to everyone who has already submitted them!


	21. Jousting

**Chapter 21: Jousting**

Kel had just entered her room when she heard a scream coming from Adalia's room.

Alarmed, she charged through the office and into her squire's room, but the sight that met her eyes was totally unexpected.

Adalia was pinned on the floor by a very excited and ugly dog that had white fur, scars, and a tail that looked like it had been broken in three places. The dog was licking her face enthusiastically, and the girl was giggling.

It took all Kel's control not to burst out laughing, but she slipped it behind her Yamani mask and addressed the pinned girl. "That's – "

" – Jump. " Adalia finished, having discerned the excitable dog's words.

Kel looked confused, "And you know that because…"

Adalia looked at her confused knight master and rolled her eyes, "I am half crow. But you knew that. Different animals _can_ talk to each other."

Kel shook her head, "I have my very own personal wildmage."

"No, you have your very own personal _crow_." Adalia corrected.

Kel decided to finish this discussion, and grinned wolfishly, "Well then, it's time for my crow to learn to joust."

"Oh NO! Just about now I would like to inform you of a crow's adamant avoidance of long sticks and big knights aiming for them." Adalia said, frightened.

"Yes, that's quite true. Or I'd imagine so. The problem is that unruly squires have no such limitations."

Kel gently pulled Jump off Adalia and started to lead the girl to the stables.

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"Now, before we do this there are two problems I need to address." Kel said carefully as they approached the stables.

"The first of which is that I refuse to be murdered with that cursed heavy lance that you seem to consider 'just right' – I saw what it did to the practise dummy and have no wish to encounter the same end." Kel said dryly.

"Then what do you propose we do?" Adalia asked lightly.

"You will use a normal one, silly." Kel responded. Adalia looked like she wanted to interrupt, so Kel continued, "What is the other problem, you may ask? Anika is a beautiful riding horse, but she isn't the most ideal warhorse. So that is why I am giving you him." Kel smiled as they reached Anika's stall, and she pointed to the stall next to the chestnut mare.

Adalia's jaw dropped. The gelding was magnificent. He had a light cream coat with silver mane and tail (palomino coat), he was well muscled, and just the right height to look like a formidable opponent on any battlefield.

She greeted him, stepping into his stall, and ran her hands over him. Conversing, she discovered that his name was Sora, which meant 'Sky.' He was actually very calm and caring, even though he was obviously strong.

After talking with him for long moments, she noticed that he was tacked up. It was a brand new high-backed jousting saddle. The back was lightly quilted, to soften the impact when she was hit. Discovering this, she spun around to talk to Kel, trying to figure out why she would give her these obviously expensive gifts for no apparent reason. The problem was, she wasn't there.

Asking Sora to follow her, she stomped out of the stall. She took no notice of the amused ostlers, which broke into laughter seeing the girl striding quickly around the stables, the magnificent warhorse forced to trot to keep up with her.

Adalia found Kel with her own warhorse, Peachblossom, and she quickly strode up to her. She saw Peachblossom flatten his ears back, and she quickly conversed with the gelding, telling him that she would give him apples for a week if they could be friends.

Kel noticed Adalia, with the large warhorse trotting behind her, as she approached. She was just about to warn Adalia of her mount's temper, when he suddenly nickered a greeting to her. She was shocked enough at that, when the girl started on her.

"Why did you get me a mount and a jousting saddle?" Adalia asked, astonished.

Kel gripped her shoulder. "I am your knight master, and as such, I have a responsibility to my squire to provide everything you will need to complete this phase of your training. And in this case it is my pleasure. You shouldn't give me all the credit though, your grandma insisted on contributing the horse." Kel finished with a kind smile.

"His name's Sora." Adalia muttered, still bewildered that she would want to give her these things. She looked Kel in the eyes, willing her to see the depth of her gratitude, "thankyou."

Kel smiled and clapped Adalia on the shoulder, "Don't thank me yet, my crow, because now you are properly supplied, we are going to joust."

Kel handed Adalia a new lance, as well as a quilted practise tunic, gloves, and a shield. Adalia sighed and pulled on the protective clothing, at the same time securing the shield to her saddle. Sora seemed excited about what was going to happen, but he was alone in that notion.

Adalia grimly followed Kel, talking silently with Peachblossom and Sora, and trying to ignore that she felt like she was walking to her death.

Reaching the jousting field, Adalia was annoyed to see that there were some soldiers of the Own practising in an adjacent field. "Did you tell them we were going to do this?" Adalia asked, suspicious.

Kel just grinned and changed the subject, "You are going flying this afternoon."

Adalia gulped. She watched Kel mount Peachblossom, who was overflowing with excitement, much like Sora was at that moment. Cursing crazy horses, Adalia slung up onto Sora's back. Settling down, she became much more relaxed as she connected with him. Feeling the strong muscles walking calmly towards her side of the field, Adalia banished her fears and settled into the rhythm.

They stopped, facing Kel across the field, and Adalia could just see the soldiers approach the fence to watch when Kel signalled to go.

Asking Sora to canter, Adalia kept the light lance steady and focused on a small dot on Kel's shield as they approached. She rose steadily in the saddle.

They collided and Adalia managed to put a fair amount of strength into hitting the target on Kel's shield, but had barely registered this when she was smashed against the high back of the saddle. It didn't stop there, though. Adalia felt Kel force her whole weight behind the lance, and then use it to scoop her out of the saddle.

Adalia was in the air, and she discarded her lance and shield in a flash. With her quick speed, instead of slapping the ground like they were taught, she flipped so she landed squarely on her feet.

Glaring at Kel, who had stopped to watch her decent, she noticed that the knight was shaking her arm out. Adalia grudgingly went to collect her lance and shield, asking Sora to come back, as he had continued cantering on.

There was a funny sound in Adalia's ears, and she thought she was losing her hearing when she spotted their spectators. "I'm glad they found that amusing, because I don't think I did." Adalia commented dryly, addressing Kel.

"That was sight. I don't think I have seen anyone land on his or her feet after being unhorsed. Hmm. If I didn't know better, I'd have said you were a cat. Do you realise the strength you put into it? I could compare it to what it felt like being hit by Raoul when I was younger." Kel shivered. "This is going to be interesting for both of us." She added thoughtfully.

Adalia cursed softly in Kyprish as she mounted Sora again for a second try.

That afternoon, after ten more jousts with Kel, Adalia felt like she was tenderised. Already bruises were appearing on the visible places of her body, and she felt that more would appear in places that could not be seen, like her back, which felt terrible. She had not gotten as good a hit on Kel since the first run, and had constantly been extracted from the saddle.

Adalia was lying on the ground, eyes closed after the eleventh joust.

Kel was observing her; "You did fine for your first time jousting properly, especially since you were jousting me. I would say get back on, but I don't know if you would last another run. You can go untack Sora now."

Adalia was still lying on the ground when she felt Sora nudge her face with his. _Hold on, youngling. I will help you up._ He told her.

_Thankyou_. Adalia responded gratefully, and lifted her hands so they were clasped tightly around his neck, and he raised his head, her along with it.

Kel watched this, marvelling that the two worked together so well when they had practically just met. _It seems that Alanna chose well._ She thought with approval.

The men that were watching at the gate opened it for her as she was walking out, leaning heavily on Sora. Adalia managed to smile at them, but words seemed beyond her capabilities at that moment.

----------------------------------------------------

After dinner that night, Adalia was relaxing on her bed, mostly recovered from her jousting in the afternoon, reflecting that she was very lucky to be half crow, and thus much harder to injure.

Kel poked her head in the door, "Come on, you can help me with this supply list for the Own."

Adalia sighed, but got up and followed Kel into the office.

It was around ten o'clock when Kel and Adalia finished the list, and Adalia was in the process of appreciating just how much work it took to organise everything, and this line of thought continued on to immense relief that she did not have to do it.

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Adalia woke up to a loud banging that made her clap her hands to her ears. Cursing, she sat up in bed and glared at the closed door like it had done her a great person wrong. "Who is it?" She screamed.

"Just guess. Get up! Practise starts now!" Kel yelled through the door.

It took Adalia a few seconds to haul herself out of bed, grab her glaive and saunter out of her room.

Upon seeing Kel, who was thoroughly awake at such an un-holy hour of the morning, Adalia muttered while she passed her in Kyprish, "Why am I cursed with befriending people who wake up early, and insist that I do as well?"

It seemed that Kel got the gist of this, and replied in Yamani, "Why am I cursed with people who like to stay in bed until noon?"

Adalia answered back in Yamani, "Because without us, you would have no one to annoy." Adalia had learnt a number of languages in the Copper Isles, having a love of solving problems, much like her own mother, and she knew that she had a near perfect accent. She reasoned that you never knew where you could end up, her own mother being excellent proof of this fact.

Kel cocked her head, observing Adalia with interest, and replied in Yamani, "You speak the Yamani language?"

"Yes. But I prefer to speak something different so early in the morning. Hmmm… nothing at all would be best." Adalia responded in the same language, still annoyed to be stuck with a knight master who would obviously keep her waking up insanely early in the morning for the next four years.

Kel couldn't help but smile while she led the way out to the practise.

---------------------------------------------------

After washing in the bathhouse, Kel turned to Adalia, "Come on. You can come eat at the Own's mess. I think the food is better, and I have to introduce you to the men of the Third Company sometime."

Adalia agreed, but she was nervous of meeting them all at once. She needn't have worried, however, as there was only about 30 men in the mess.

Collecting a plate of food and following Kel to a table, Adalia glanced around, confused. "Where is everyone? I would have thought there would be more."

"The men sleep in as much as possible, because they can be called out at any time, so they take advantage of any rest."

"You could learn from them." Adalia frankly told Kel.

She laughed, "No, I'm sorry but you have to learn to be good at the glaive sometime."

"You already know me well enough to persuade me. That's not fair." Adalia grumbled.

They stopped light conversation as they ate, but it was a companionable silence. After the meal, Adalia was feeling much more like her cheery self.

Handing her plate over to the cooks, she followed Kel out of the mess, and upon seeing a crowd of soldiers gathered around something she couldn't see, stopped and addressed Kel, "What are they doing?"

Kel looked where she was pointing, and chuckled, "Do you remember that knife you threw in the tree in your second year? That's where they keep it. Hundreds of people must have tried to remove it by now, but no one has managed it. There's been bets on who will do it for years."

Adalia stared at her, incredulous, "They haven't removed it yet?"

"No. I've tried, and I don't think anyone will."

Adalia sighed, "Could we go up there?"

Adalia made her way through the crowd and saw that a man of roughly 20 was desperately pulling on the sheath, the soldiers egging him on. He gave up, a disappointed look on his face and stepped away. "Doesn't look like I will be the one to do it."

He was fairly tall, with black hair and hazel eyes. She heard one of the men say, "Aww, don't worry Steve, no one has been able to do it."

That's when Adalia stepped up, Kel at her back. "I think it's time that this ended."

The soldiers looked at her, surprised. She could feel them swiftly taking in her slender form, long black hair tied back in a braid, and bright purple eyes, and at the same time she got the feeling that they were not impressed.

"This is no place for little girls." A large bazhir man sneered at her.

She felt Kel glare at the man, "Maybe not, but it _is _a place for my squire."

The man flinched and stepped back. The man called Steve said, "What was that? About ending it? And are you the one to do it?" Adalia was peeved by the man's unbelieving tone, which made her grit her jaw.

She stepped forward, "Yes."

The men laughed in disbelief. "Oh, sure. Go on, if you can, then do it." The man who said this was clearly joking.

Adalia smiled sweetly at him, "Fine."

She stubbornly stepped forward, brushed Steve out of the way, and mockingly grabbed the dagger with one hand and wrenched it out. As it came out, it emitted a crack that was audible to all the men present.

Adalia smiled, head cocked to the side as she turned around, idly twirling the dagger in her hand. "You men better be careful about how you see girls from now on. Oh, and did it ever occur to you how it ended up there in the first place?" Adalia took in the awed looks, which were mirrored on all of the gathered men's faces, with satisfaction.

Her eyes hardened as she got a good idea. Flicking the knife high in the air, she caught it again and pivoted swiftly, aiming it to become newly imbedded in a nearby tree trunk, but this time it was almost at the top. She gave them men one last smile and a Player's bow before turning and walking away quickly.

She only noticed that Kel was following her when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "I think they won't be so quick as to underestimate you again."

"That _is_ what I was aiming for, but I still dislike shows of power." Adalia responded, almost regretting losing her temper – _almost_, but not quite.

Kel smiled sympathetically, "I can tell how that might be problematic. I've got an idea. I have seen how good you are at sparring with the Shang Falcon. What say you we go get our swords and have a few matches?"

Adalia seriously considered this, but she shook her head, "Would it be alright if I went for a ride with Anika? I'll be back before dinner."

"Yes, of course." Kel gave her one last nod before striding off, sensing the girl's need to be alone.

Adalia quickly ran to the stables and jumped on Anika, deciding to ride bareback.

Cantering through the woods, hands tightly entwined in Anika's mane, Adalia was cursing herself for being an idiot for letting those men's condescending attitudes get to her.

Roughly an hour after setting out, Adalia reached the edge of a lake. She leapt off Anika, allowing her mare to go and graze.

Sighing, she sat down and gazed out over the astonishingly blue water, delighting in the soft warming rays of the sun. Making a split second decision, she removed her shoes and waded out into the water.

She was lazily splashing about when she heard Anika greet a very familiar gelding.

"Hey, Ady!" She looked towards the bank, shocked, to see Rye removing Diablo's saddle and bridle.

"What are you doing here?" Adalia asked, confused.

Rye shook his head. "What am _I_ doing here? Gods Ady, I've been looking for you since yesterday! I heard that Kel took you on as a squire, and I've got to say I am hurt that you didn't think to inform me of this development!"

Adalia grinned sheepishly and splashed him. "Sorry, it slipped my mind between being tenderised while tilting and proving some men wrong."

Rye pouted while taking off his boots, "Still, not impressed. You could have at least let me see you show them wrong! I had to hear about it from a very flustered sparrow that happened to be very near where you threw that dagger."

Adalia raised her eyebrows, "Really. The point is it was near, not hit."

Rye dived into the water and swam out to her. "I guess, but it would have been fun to see it. Your plays are always the best."

Adalia raised her eyebrows, "Be that a compliment, young mage?"

Rye wrinkled his brow, "Why, I think it was, Ady."

Adalia splashed him, "How many times must I tell you not to call me Ady?!"

"At least once more, as always, _Ady_." And with that he swam closer and dunked her underwater.

Adalia let out a small scream and squirmed out of his arms, yanking him underwater in turn, and then swam away.

They continued that way for a while, playing a teasing game of chasing and catching to get each other back.

Finally, Adalia was worn out and she swam into shallow water so she could rest. Rye swam over to her, and she called out, "STOP! I give up! Please don't hurt me!" She threw her arms up in front of her face in a protective position, totally exhausted.

Rye stopped beside her so his side was touching hers. He grinned mischievously as he grabbed her hands and pried them away from her face.

As Rye lowered her hands, Adalia nervously opened her eyes and noticed his closeness. She was torn between being frozen to the spot and wanting to run away. He was too close.

He held her gaze levelly, before saying, "Now, I am taking advantage of you right now, because I don't think I'll ever catch you worn out again." He leaned in and kissed her softly and carefully.

Adalia registered shock, but could not collect her thoughts long enough to formulate what to do. She found that she could not tear her mind away from Rye.

When Rye released her, she trembled in shock, and turned her face away from his, trying to process what had just happened, trying to place a new feeling that had arisen the second her lips had met his. She felt his hand on her chin, and shivered at the touch.

Rye raised her face to meet his. He gazed into her haunting violet eyes, trying to gauge her emotions, "If you don't feel the same way about me, I'll understand, and we can go back to…to just being friends." He said, uncertain now that his mind had caught up with his actions. He had simply been unable to help himself. _She is beautiful even when wet and muddy_. He mused while anxiously awaiting her answer.

Adalia gazed into his stormy grey eyes, recognising the emotions now painfully evident in them. Something clicked into place as she looked into his eyes, and she carefully raised her hand to settle on his cheek, "Now, why would I be wanting to do that, my young mage?" She asked lightly, and quickly pulled him into a deeper kiss.

After a few moments of this, Adalia jumped up and ran out of the water, calling back to Rye, "Um, I've ah, gotta get back before dinner or Kel's gonna be worried sick. See ya."

She silently called to Anika, while telling herself _I am not running away. I like Rye; I just need to be back on time. Besides, even if I was I am riding not running._

Anika galloped up, concerned because the call had been so urgent. She didn't even stop when she saw her thoroughly wet rider, just continued charging on. Adalia slung up on to the mare's back and waved to Rye, then concentrated on staying astride Anika.

Rye sat in the water for a while after Ady had practically ran off. _She just needs time._ He assured himself. _For gods sake it's a wonder she can trust anyone with the amount of –problems- she has suffered at the hands of the conservatives._

He ran his hands over his lips, still dazed that she returned his feelings. He was shaken out of this pleasant reverie by Diablo. _Are you going to stay in there all night?_

"No." Rye absently told him.

_Well, come on._ Rye sighed and lifted himself out of the water, going to fetch Diablo's saddle.

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Next Chapter: Not Running

**Disclaimer**: I am not Tamora Pierce.

LOL. I bet this is the chapter that everyone has been waiting for! Please R&R, all suggestions welcome (although I can't promise they will be used).


	22. Not Running

**Chapter 22: Not Running**

A thoroughly exhausted and dripping wet Adalia jumped through the window into her room in Kel's suite.

Grabbing some clean clothes, she walked into the washroom, which just happened to have a bath filled with hot water waiting. Blessing the servants Adalia stripped and slipped in.

_What just happened?_ Closing her eyes, she ran her hand over her lips, remembering the feeling of Rye's lips on hers. She blushed, and laid a hand against her flaming face. _That wasn't so bad… but am I ready to be in that kind of a relationship? I feel like this is happening too early or … I don't know. Rye is my friend. But I like him more than as just a friend…this is too confusing._

After a long while, Adalia reluctantly jumped out of the bath and threw on some breeches and a shirt. She had resolved to forget about it, and deal with Rye when she saw him.

Lying down on her bed, she heard a tentative knock on the door. "Adalia? It's Kel. I thought you might want dinner."

"Come in." Adalia called. She smiled when she saw Kel enter, carrying a large tray teeming with hot food.

"Thankyou soo much!"

"That's ok. I didn't see you at lunch or dinner, so I guessed you would be hungry." Kel smiled as she set down the food on Adalia's desk, and sat down on the bed.

Adalia realised just how hungry she was when she saw the food. _Strange how that always happens…_ she mused. She didn't notice that Kel was sitting on her bed until she had slowed down to a more normal pace of eating. Picking up a piece of bread, she glanced questioningly at Kel.

"I was wondering if you needed to talk to someone." Kel asked lightly, gazing intently into Adalia's violet eyes.

Adalia absent-mindedly tore a piece off the bread and popped it into her mouth, thinking quickly. She needed to find some way of bringing a certain subject up so that Kel didn't realise she was doing it. "When does the Progress start?"

Kel's brow furrowed slightly, and Adalia could tell that this was from confusion, but Kel humoured her. "A week from today. First Company of the King's Own are escorting them out."

Adalia picked up some grapes and started throwing them in her mouth, "What was the last one like when you were a squire?"

Kel's eyes glazed over and Adalia got the distinct feeling that her knight master was reliving some moments of the event, "Interesting. Raoul spent most of his time avoiding it. I have to warn you, I intend to as well. There are a lot of gossips with nothing else to do but snoop in other people's business. Oh, and I did a lot of jousting against knights."

"Thank the gods that you don't want to hover for ages! From what I've heard the banquets are boring, and I would have to serve you, wouldn't I? Not to mention it would be better to be out hunting something."

Kel laughed, "Yes."

Adalia nodded. "You said there were a lot of gossips. What did they say about you?"

A small grin touched Kel's face, "Mostly my 'secret' relationship with another squire. Cleon was his name. I thought that I loved him, but when I met him again after we were separated a while I realised that I did not feel the same as I once did. Nothing happened between us."

Keeping her face inscrutable, she asked lightly, "How did you realise it was just a crush and not love?"

Kel looked thoughtful, "Hmm. It felt like love at the time, but the feeling left after we had been apart for a few months. I found love with Dom. I thought it was just a crush, but the crush lasted years and the feelings just got more intense. I guess that is the difference."

_I guess that is what I wanted to know, but it doesn't exactly help me now._ Adalia thought sadly. She fumbled around for a logical conversation to follow this, to continue her pretence of not being specially interested in this subject, and said, "Wait a second. You just said that you jousted. Against knights."

"Yes, I did."

"I hope you do not expect me to do that!" Adalia replied, horrified.

Kel smiled mysteriously, "Not yet, at least. You need just a tad more practise." And with that Kel jumped up off the bed, collected the now empty tray and walked out.

Adalia gulped, purple eyes wide. The Goddess would become ugly before she would willingly joust other nights.

Frowning, she wiggled underneath her sheets and closed her eyes.

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Yet again, insanely early in the morning, Adalia was rubbing her eyes and grumbling while Kel was banging on her door. "What?"

"Adalia, get up, grab your pack and saddle up Anika and Sora. Third Company has been called out on a mission." With that Kel strode away.

Adalia instantly jumped out of bed, musing _I know I always wear my clothes to bed for a good reason_. Having already been dressed, it only took her a few seconds to splash her face and tie up her hair. Sprinting out of the room she grabbed the pack that Kel said to get ready should a situation like this arise.

While jogging down to the stables, Adalia whispered to Shard, "Could you tell Rye goodbye from me?"

Shard squeaked an affirmative and Adalia felt relieved as she burst into the stables, greeting both her horses directly. She quickly saddled them, explaining the situation. She didn't bother to lead Anika by a rope, knowing that this wouldn't be so strange in the palace where most horses were treated as equals, not to mention probably more intelligent than two-leggers, and she jumped on Sora, asking him to trot over to where Third Company was assembling.

Adalia talked to Peachblossom, asking directions to Kel, which allowed her to find the knight quickly. Kel gave her an approving nod and then turned back to inspecting the soldiers. Adalia got a violent fright when a very familiar voice called her name.

Jumping down from Sora, she asked the horses to stay where they were while she ran over to the trees. She couldn't help but smile when she saw a dishevelled Rye beckoning to her from behind a tree that would ensure that none of the soldiers would see her.

When she was close enough, she started to ask, "What are you…"

She never would finish that question, because when she got close enough Rye pulled her into his arms, and then gazed intently into her eyes, "I'll miss you." And with that he eased his lips over hers, kissing her softly.

Adalia felt her heartbeat speed up as Rye pulled her into his arms. During the kiss she was vividly aware of Rye's hands, which were wrapped around her waist, and her own, one entwined in his hair, the other wrapped around his neck.

They broke apart reluctantly when Shard squeaked in indignation because it was being squashed. Adalia rested her head against his chest, gathering herself to stop tears, and whispered, "I will miss you too."

Adalia could just see that there were much more men mulling about in the meeting place and she reluctantly pulled away from Rye, and then looked into Rye's grey eyes. "Thanks for… seeing me off."

She fleetingly and softly kissed him back, and then spun around to run back to Sora. _I am sad to go, things were just getting interesting… but I can't help but be glad to get away. This is strange. I want to be near him, but I also don't. At least I am not running away. I am performing my duty as a squire._

She saw Rye waving to her as she trotted out the gate on Sora, next to Kel at the front of a long column of soldiers.

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**Disclaimer**: NOT TP.

I have some news, not much of it is good. I am going on holiday for a week, and unable to access the internet. So there won't be updates until January, but there will be two at once. Thankyou all so much for the reviews, I hope you like this chapter. (Sorry it's a bit short, I have a bad case of writers block)


	23. Unpleasant Surprises

**Chapter 23: Unpleasant Surprises**

Ambling alongside Kel, Adalia couldn't help but be frustrated. They had been searching for a Tauros that had been reported of being in the vicinity, but as of yet they had had no sign of where it may be.

"Where is it?" Adalia grumbled at Kel.

Kel turned in her saddle to see Adalia settled lightly on Sora, staring intently into the trees on either side of the trail. "How am I supposed to know?"

Adalia rolled her eyes, "You are the one with the marvellous tracking sparrows; you tell me."

"Relax. We will find them in time. In case you have forgotten, this forest is very large. Huge. Gigantic. As if it will be easy to find one Tauros amongst all this greenery. If you are to last as my squire, I must insist that you realise that we can't have action all the time."

Adalia sighed, "I guess you are right."

"You know it. Now be quiet." Kel could still hear the girl shifting in the saddle, and grinned. _This is entertaining._

Adalia looked behind, turning in the saddle to be facing backwards. She observed the long line of soldiers, each of which were talking amongst themselves.

"I think you're the wrong way around." A voice said from her left side.

Adalia span back round to face the front, and then searched for the person whose voice it was.

She saw sparkling hazel eyes settled on her, a mischievous grin on his face; it was the man she recognised as Steve from the day she pulled out the dagger (and replanted it) in front of the Own's mess. She examined his face, and seeing no ill meaning behind his words, grinned, "I was getting so bored of being the right way around, that I decided to make it more interesting."

He shook his head, "Did it work?"

"Unfortunately, no." Adalia said, sighing.

"Never does."

Adalia raised an eyebrow, "And you know this because…?"

"It's always boring until we get the scent – then it gets interesting."

Adalia scratched her chin. "I am Adalia."

"Steve. Nice to meet you." They shook hands and continued following Kel and Dom, scanning the tree line.

"How did you do it?" Steve asked after a while.

Adalia grinned wryly, "Half crow. What did they do with it?"

"I had heard that, but it sounds…"

"Weird. I know. Mix that with the Lioness being my grandma and I am unique."

His eyes lingered on her purple, "Yeah, I saw the similarities."

Feeling a little self-conscious, she turned back to scanning the tree line and sought for another subject, "What did they do with the dagger?"

"Still trying to get it out. The problem with that is that they have to climb the tree."

"Has anyone fallen?" Adalia asked, curious.

He grinned, "Only the Giantkiller himself."

Adalia burst into giggles. Tears streaming from her eyes, she gasped out, "WHAT?!"

He was laughing as well, delighting in the memory, "Well, the problem was that Jon had sent a messenger after him, and being our one and only crafty Knight Commander, he got it into his head to join in the competition to avoid the messenger. He was climbing to the top, and he stepped onto a small branch, and – get this – it broke! He came tumbling down the tree!"

He was overcome with mirth, and burst into laughter alongside Adalia. Managing to catch his breath, he forced out, "That's not the least of it though! The messenger just happened to have the honour of breaking his fall!"

Both broke into laughter, unable to stop. Adalia was picturing the enormous Raoul doing something as undignified as falling out of a tree. "What happened to the messenger?"

Taking a big breath, he gathered some composure; "He was fine after some healers got through with him."

"Raoul, on the other hand, said that he had gained a resistance to healers, so the King couldn't call on him while he was recovering!"

After the two had finished laughing at the formidable Knight Commander, they settled into a companionable silence, both searching the tree line for the illusive Tauros.

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At night they set up camp and Adalia went with Jump to help hunt.

Upon returning with some game, she approached the fire and handed it to the men who would prepare it for the meal, and then settled down next to Kel, who had just finished collecting water.

She watched, interested, as sparrows flew over to Kel and gave her signals that meant 'nothing.' Adalia had been forced to learn the simple signals that the animals had learnt so they would be able to protect Haven, a refugee camp that Kel had been in command of.

Most settled on or around Kel, and some settled on Adalia or other men close to them.

"So. How have you found your first month as my squire?"

Adalia, who had been dwelling on her friends and hoping that they were all right, snapped out of her thoughts and looked at her knight master, surprised. "It can't have been that long."

"Oh, but it has." Kel grinned, enjoying the unusual sight of her squire being completely bewildered. It didn't happen often.

Adalia propped her hand on her chin, looking thoughtful, "Now I see. You are conveniently forgetting the time you knocked me out for a full day. That means that technically it hasn't been a month until tomorrow." She kept her voice light and thoughtful; her expression not changing even when Kel scowled at her.

"I _told_ you, that wasn't my fault. You should have raised your shield a bit more."

Adalia grinned wryly, "I'm not likely to forget that any time soon. But remember that I told _you_ crows have an aversion to long poles."

Kel sighed and shook her head, deciding to abandon the conversation that they had had many times before, and left Adalia in peace.

Adalia grinned slyly and turned back to watching the dancing flames.

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Early in the morning Adalia found herself awake and glaring at the roof of her tent. She stubbornly got out of bed, found something to clip her long black hair out of her face and snuck out of her tent stealthily, making her way towards the lake that was not far from their camp.

The only reason she had woken up early was that she felt like there was a coiled spring inside her. The energy that she had been not able to expend while slumped upon her horses was going to make her scream in frustration if she didn't expend it soon.

Feeling anticipation rise, she started complicated drills with her sword, the steel creating a deadly wall between her and the world.

Having completed the most complicated sword drills she knew, she moved on to hand-to-hand moves, working methodically through patterns that she had completed endlessly through her page years, as well as quite literally in her sleep when forced out of bed by her Evil Personal Shang. Her mind wandered as she left her muscles to follow the well-known drills perfectly, breath coming more and more quickly as she wore herself out more and more.

She did not know how much time had passed since the beginning of her exercises, but glimpsing at the sun, she realised that it must be about past time when the company would have woken. Lightly slapping her head and thinking, _Idiot, _she walked towards the water, kneeling down to splash the sweat out of her face that she had gathered through her remonstrations.

That was when she heard a loud bull cry, sounding on the edge of insanity. It shook her to her core as she forced herself to slowly get to her feet and turn around. Her worst fear confirmed, she stood still, taking a second to recognise the half bull, half human beast that she knew to be called a Taurus.

_Oh shit._

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**Disclaimer:** Not TP

Hmm. I know this is small but well, since I am putting two up at once I guessed that it wouldn't matter, especially since the others should be long(er). NE ways I hope ya like it.


	24. Straight Answers

**Chapter 24: Straight Answers**

Kel woke up at her usual early hour that morning. She picked up her glaive and opened her tent flap, stopping for a second to take in the quiet that only existed in the early morning. She took in all the tents, snores escaping from various flaps. Glancing at the tent next to hers, she got a stab of shock to see that Adalia's tent was open, and the girl was not there.

Cursing to herself, she frantically followed the light trail of Adalia's footprints, calmed somewhat by the fact that there were none other in sight. _Rules out the possibility that she was taken_. She thought with relief.

Making her way out of the wood, she glimpsed her errant squire, moving through sword drills, her blade flashing at a remarkable pace. Every time she saw this girl's abilities she couldn't help but catch her breath in wonder. It was… remarkable. She decided not to interrupt, and instead picked a spot where she could start a pattern dance and keep the girl in sight.

She was practising intently when she noticed that men in the camp had started to observe the fifteen year old's actions. She had now moved on to hand-to-hand moves, going through them with a practised ease that usually only came from those of the Shang order. She smirked, _about time they realise that she can do more than make jokes_.

A great deal more men had gathered and were watching silently from the tree line when Adalia stopped and turned around, approaching the lake. Kel had finished her glaive exercises a while ago, and was relaxing on a rock, having joined the observers. It had become apparent that the girl hadn't noticed their presence, and quite frankly, she doubted the men would enlighten her.

Kel was smiling happily, slowly getting to her feet, when she heard something that sent a shiver up her spine. It was a loud bull cry, sounding on the edge of insanity. It rang out from the tree line, just before a seven-foot fully-grown Tauros – half bull, half man – burst from the trees. It came from a spot much closer to the girl at the water, who was slowly turning around, and upon seeing the bull froze.

Kel burst forward, desperately trying to get to the girl before the Immortal did, even as she did, knowing that it was no good. The men who were watching her were right at her back, grasping swords or spears, going to help the girl who had looked like some kind of war goddess, going easily through complicated movements perfectly, black hair escaping from a clip that it had been secured in.

What they saw next shocked them almost as much as the Immortal bearing down on the girl.

They stared on, helplessly sprinting towards her, watching the horror scene play out before their very eyes.

Adalia, abandoning the second of being frozen in place, looked about for her sword. Cursing, she saw it abandoned with her sheath a few metres away. _Rules that out_… _It's_ _too big for me to have a chance in hand-to-hand… I need to kill it before it gets close enough to…_Adalia wouldn't allow herself to think about what that thing wanted to do with her.

She ran her hand through her hair. It snagged on the clip secured there. _Thank the Goddess!_

The Tauros was getting closer, as were the rescue party, when they saw Adalia detach a piece off her clip, flinging it at the Immortal, which collapsed mere metres away from the girl. Adalia walked casually up to the Tauros, nudging it with her foot.

"What the…" Kel yelled.

Adalia looked up, surprised to see her knight master and at least twenty soldiers charging towards her. She smiled thinly and waved.

Kel reached her and swept her into a bone-crushing hug, "Never again." She said firmly.

Adalia nodded minutely, and then turned with Kel to inspect the Tauros.

Kel's eyes widened in shock. There was a dagger imbedded in the beast's windpipe.

Adalia, shaking slightly, moved around and pulled the tiny dagger from the monster, and took it to the stream to wash away the blood.

Relief overpowering shock, Kel examined the men, who were watching the girl with newly found awe and respect clear in their eyes. "You and you." Kel pointed to two men who were close to the beast. "Collect some wood so we can light this thing up." They nodded and ran off.

Adalia returned, twirling the now clean dagger in her fingers, smiling sheepishly. Kel silently held her hand out for it, and she handed the dagger over, carefully looking at her boots.

Kel shook her head, "How is it that I didn't know you had this?"

"You never asked." Adalia said, carefully continuing to examine her boots. She didn't know which way this would go; being a squire, daggers were generally frowned upon, as they were generally the weapon of choice for thieves. For her, they were something that allowed her to remember her mother, who had taught her the use of them. And now Kel had to admit they were useful.

Kel shook her head, a small smile playing on her lips, "Thank the goddess you had this on you. Any others I should know about?"

Adalia accepted her dagger back and inserted it back into the remainder of the clip, making it seem once again to be an innocent girlish trinket. She smiled innocently and fingered the amethyst around her neck, "Not at this moment, but you have to admit they _are_ handy."

Kel rolled her eyes, "Just when I think I'm going to get a straight answer…Come on everyone, it seems as though my squire has taken care of the Tauros. We will do one last sweep of the area and then return to Corus."

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Adalia quickly got over the shock of being set upon by the Tauros, apart from the occasional nightmare.

She noticed that the men treated her differently from that day. Although there were still men who she knew were spreading rumours about her, calling her malignant names, ect ect there were many who seemed to be uninterested in these things, and she made quick friends among the soldiers.

They investigated every kind of attack that Adalia could imagine, and quite a few she couldn't. Adalia was suspicious of the fact that they only seemed to stay in one place for a day or two, and then moved on.

It had been three more months, and Adalia and Kel had just caught up with Third Company, coincidentally just before the First Company, which they had been travelling with, were called to join the Great Progress (much to both the women's satisfaction) and Adalia was plodding along on Anika, excitedly searching for a familiar face amongst the party at the front.

She followed Kel closely as Peachblossom cut a large line through the ranks of men on horseback. She noticed her knight master's delight at seeing her husband, Dom, with appreciation. Kel had gotten…sad at being away from him for these past months, although she hid it really well behind her Yamani mask, and Adalia was looking forward to the break that would be inevitable with her knight master occupied.

Adalia herself was in a decidedly black mood, having been beaten constantly by Kel with the glaive and the lance, but she was looking forward to seeing Charlie (she knew that Kel was as well). It had been months since she had seen him, and she had been delighted to discover that Raoul had decided to join Third Company for the time being.

Everyone knew that he had given up the position of Commander to the Own to Dom, but he was still largely involved with them, and was able to ride with them when he wished to. Everyone knew he had joined them again to avoid the Progress; otherwise he would have been forced to stay with it the whole time.

Adalia grinned mischievously when she spotted Charlie and manoeuvred Anika next to Tunza, and poked him on the back. "Hi."

His head whipped around, and upon spotting Adalia he grinned, "Hey cub how ya goin'?"

She scowled at him, "Why do you call me that?"

He rolled sapphire eyes, and explained slowly, "You are a lioness cub, thus the name. I think we have been through this before."

Rolling her eyes in return, she cast around for a subject, "So. What have you been doing?"

He chuckled, "Avoiding royal messengers, with varying success. I think his Majesty put a tracker on Raoul. Not a bad idea in my opinion, but his nose seems out of joint." He nodded towards his knight master, who was currently greeting Kel.

"I heard something of the sort in Corus. We on the other hand have been having marvellous success. Haven't joined it once." Adalia responded teasingly.

"I think the whole Realm knows. Ok, that's beside the point. I would have thought you'd have been caught by now. What have you been doing?"

Adalia grinned and related her travels, and in turn heard about the antics of Lord Raoul.

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The Company just happened to be starting on the road a week after Kel had joined them, when someone very unwanted arrived next to Lord Raoul.

Adalia was surprised that no one had seen him flitting between the men, but when the man took off a band he had been wearing around his neck, Raoul almost fell out of his saddle. _Must have been spelled to be invisible… good idea. I think, No – I know that he would have ran away otherwise…_

Adalia was smirking when she saw the messenger shove a Royal looking letter into Lord Raoul's hand. He was visibly furious, and his companions all moved out of his way as he opened the letter. The messenger slipped back on the necklace, but he just stayed in the same spot, nervously watching the knight.

He scowled when he read the letter, and scrunched it up in his hand. He looked at Kel, and then seemed to get an idea. He ambled over to her, "The King asks for me to find the Lady Knight Keladry of Mindelain and Masbolle, and then join the Progress, travelling as fast as the horses will allow."

She looked at him speculatively for a moment, and then seemed to catch on to what he was saying, and she swung up onto Hoshi. "I don't feel found, do you, Adalia?"

Having caught on to what they were saying, Adalia smiled mischievously, and saw her part in this. Looking behind Raoul, she pointed and yelled, "POSSUM!"

Raoul, the messenger, and the company gathered turned quickly around. When they realised what she had said, half the men burst out laughing. They span around, only to see the Lady Knight and her squire galloping off, following the road out of their sights.

Raoul pretended to sigh, "Looks like I will have to go find the Lady Knight before we can join the Progress."

The men present started laughing again. "Come on, Charlie." The messenger took off the charm. He was scowling at them. Raoul, catching the look said sorrowfully, "You never know, with Lady knights. Sometimes they are found, other times they aren't."

Down the road, both Knight and squire were laughing uncontrollably; Kel at the outrageous stunt that her squire had pulled, Adalia at the hilarity of so easily fooling them.

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Unfortunately, Kel had to allow herself to be found, and exactly two weeks later Kel, Raoul, Charlie, Adalia and a very nervous Royal messenger were approaching the long and dusty line of the First Company, along with many other nobles, including most of the Royal family.

Adalia, this time on Sora, tried to hide between Kel and Raoul as they approached the King and Queen. Raoul sidled up to take the place next to him. In a man of lesser standing, the look on King Jonathan IV would have been called a scowl.

Raoul looked sorrowful as he kept pace with the King, "Sorry, Majesty. It took me a while to find the Lady Knight." He bowed in the saddle.

Adalia thought the King would growl at him, but he said stiffly, "I thought it may be that. Stay with the Progress until further notice. It is the same for Sir Keladry."

Raoul made his exit, scowling as he returned to Kel and the squires, and informed her of this development. His expression turned to a pout, "Last time I got away because he didn't say I had to stay, just Second Company." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "He is getting better at not leaving loop holes."

Kel grinned slightly, "Or maybe you are getting worse at finding them."

Raoul raised his eyebrows at her, but didn't say anything. Kel nudged Hoshi out of the procession, Adalia, Raoul and Charlie close behind. They waited until the last soldiers had gone past, and then started ambling after them.

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**Disclaimer:** Not TP

I hope it was worth the wait, or that u enjoyed it. Plz R&R


	25. Elusive Loopholes

**Chapter 25: Elusive Loopholes**

Adalia was making her way with Charlie to the marshal point for the squires that had to serve the nobles that would be dining that night.

"Where…?" Adalia began.

"Follow me, milady." Charlie replied mockingly. "I've had to do this a lot."

Adalia followed Charlie into a small door that was just off the hall leading to the banquet room. She grinned in delight when she saw Kula, Daniel, Dameon, Nathan and Kaden. It was the first time they had all been together since Daniel and Nathan had started their squire years. They shouted and ran towards the two.

"Fancy meeting you guys here." Adalia drawled after she was hugged by all of them.

"I _know_. Weird hey?" Kaden responded sarcastically.

Adalia grinned and examined their faces. She was disheartened to discover that she was the shortest, next to Kaden. They all looked extremely happy to see her. She was almost thrown off balance when Daniel clapped her on the back, green eyes sparkling mischievously, "And so our esteemed Lady knight has finally been captured and forced to join the others to dine with the king."

Adalia grinned crookedly, "Not for lack of trying to stay away." They all glanced through the doors and saw a scowling Kel in a dress, resolutely glaring at the King, who seemed oblivious to this attention.

"It took you long enough." That was Kula. Adalia just grinned.

Daniel cut in, "It was due to some quick thinking on Adalia's part that they were able to avoid joining for so long." He looked at Adalia with amusement and continued, "I mean – 'possum'? Where the heck did that come from?"

The others broke into laughter while Adalia grinned sheepishly and fluttered her hand at him like a lady accepting a compliment. It was at that exact moment that the Master of Ceremonies swept in and ordered the squires about.

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None other than her esteemed knight master shook Adalia awake at an hour she considered ungodly – although it was the best sleep in she'd had for months. Groaning, she cracked an eye to stare into Kel's hazel eyes.

"Wake up! I have been called to a meeting with his majesty. I just wanted you to know. I need you up."

Kel left, and Adalia was suddenly wide-awake and incredibly suspicious. Throwing the sheets off, she blessed her own preference to sleep in the clothes she would wear the following day, then ran a brush through her hair and exited the tent.

Catching sight of Kel making her way towards their Majesty's rooms, she followed her, using the practise and advise from her mother on spying. She stayed in the crowd, pretending to examine a necklace in a stall, when she saw Raoul enter after Kel. Now she was incredibly interested. _Why would the King want to meet them? Hadn't he vowed to make them stay with the Progress? It probably isn't about leaving it._ She jumped when she felt a tap on her shoulder, and span around to see Charlie and Kula behind her, grinning amusedly.

"What are you guys doing here?" She asked suspiciously.

Charlie grinned, "Probably the same thing you are. Alanna and Raoul were called for a private meeting with his majesty, and we were interested why. I guess Kel was called as well?"

Adalia grinned and nodded. They all looked at the building. Kula said, "The room is on the second story. There's no way we can eavesdrop." She looked disappointed, as did Charlie.

Adalia scanned the building, and then rubbed her hands together, a sly grin on her face. "This will be fun!"

They looked at her like she was mad. She turned around, but when they made to follow her, she said, "Wait here. If they see me I'll need a reason to be here." She said this as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, so they nodded reluctantly and watched as she moved swiftly out of sight, following the building around to the side.

Charlie looked at Kula, amused, "Do you get the feeling - "

"- That she's done this before? Yes." Kula said. They both exchanged a look of exasperation, and then turned to pretend to be examining a sword on display.

While the two squires were debating on just how much experience in eavesdropping Adalia had, she was inspecting the wall. Upon seeing a conveniently placed window with a ledge and awnings underneath, she grinned.

Scanning the surroundings once more, she confirmed that she was alone, and then jumped straight onto the awnings. _I love being half crow,_ she thought to herself; _it comes in handy all the time._

She gingerly made her way, bent over, to be sitting under the window. From this vantage point, she could hear everything going on in the room…

"…good that you could all be here. I think it's about time you all know why we want most of the knights with us on the Progress." King Jon was saying.

Raoul was staring at him with a raised eyebrow, and Jon gave him look-for-look. "Raoul, did you really think after last time I would bother getting you to stick with us just to insert my authority?" When Raoul continued staring at him, Jon made a face, "For your information, that wasn't the reason I need you here." He nodded towards George, who was sitting beside him.

George cleared his throat and looked at the four people in the room. "As you all know, there are representatives of Tusaine court who have joined us." He watched as the others nodded their heads. "It is also common knowledge that Tusaine, although they had made a peace agreement at least twenty years ago with King Roald, thanks to our very own Jon and Alanna, have started to get – restless." At this the others nodded again.

It was Jon who spoke up next, "Our whisperman has found that they are much more serious about this than anyone could guess. I wanted to warn you all that this is why, but also because I have an idea about how to hopefully prevent a war." They all looked surprised and gazed at him.

Raoul broke in excitably, "So, if we find a way to discourage them from starting a war, we can escape the Progress?"

Jon looked at his friend with exasperation, and nodded slightly.

He then turned to look at Kel, who was obviously wondering why she was here – this was a top-secret closed-door meeting. She was a knight, but not that high up in the court. His gaze shifted to Alanna as he continued, "Do you remember how last time we had an unblooded squire compete and win against a full knight of Tusaine?" Alanna grinned and nodded, as did Raoul and George. Kel had heard about how Alanna, impersonating a rather tiny boy, had managed to win against a large knight.

"I think we should do something of the sorts, and I have just the squire picked to do it."

All of a sudden, George looked at Jon and put a finger to his lips, eyes narrowed as he went to the window.

Adalia, listening beneath the window, thought that this would be a good time to run.

George opened the window fully and stuck his head out. He scanned the area, and upon seeing only buildings and tents, shook his head. He shut the window and padded over to the window facing the makeshift stalls. Once again sticking his head out, he recognised three squires who were intently examining a dagger.

He yelled down, "Adalia?"

She seemed to look about, and then turn around to spot her grandfather hanging out of a window. She put and innocent look on her face and yelled back, "What?"

He looked at her with amusement. He could have sworn he felt someone eavesdropping, and his granddaughter was acting extremely innocent. He thought it had been her, but he couldn't see how she had done so and manage to get down there so quickly. "Come up here."

Adalia stared at him, curious. _Why would they want me up there? Unless…_She abandoned this thought as she waved goodbye to her friends, who had provided the perfect cover for her to be examining the stalls – it would have been suspicious had she been alone – and she padded inside, taking the staircase up to the room she guessed the meeting must be in.

Entering, she bowed to Jon, who nodded to her with a kind grin on his face – yet another person she had made friends with through her grandmother – and took a seat beside Alanna and Kel, who seemed to be looking at George and Jon suspiciously.

They quickly 'got Adalia up to speed' and then continued from where Adalia had left them.

Jon said carefully, "I think it would make an impression if we had one of the _female_ squires show them how formidable Tortallans are."

Alanna and Kel seemed to look furious, but before Alanna could start yelling at her King, she was cut off with Adalia yawning, "That's hardly fair, your Majesty."

He looked taken aback for a second, and then addressed Adalia, "What are you talking about? You could beat them."

Adalia grinned wolfishly and said, "No, I mean, it's not fair on them. They would be no competition."

George grinned and explained, "That doesn't matter. It will be good for the kingdom, and it should warn them off starting a war."

The others were nodding in agreement, watching Adalia. She looked thoughtful and leaned back in her chair, propping and hand on her chin. What she said next shocked them, "It won't work."

"Why not?" That was George, who was observing his granddaughter curiously. She obviously had an idea, but seemed not to want to share it. He wanted to know the reasoning behind her conclusion. As did the others, he could tell.

She was staring at the roof, examining an idea, "Did it stop a war last time?"

Jon looked uncomfortable, but said nothing, because obviously it didn't. He replied irritably, "But this time is different."

Adalia shook her head, still gazing at the ceiling. Suddenly she grinned wolfishly and turned to look at those gathered. She met Jon's eyes and said, "We all know by now. If someone loses, it will be because I cheated. No matter how many I beat, they will still be able to convince themselves that it was because I bribed someone, or got in a cheap shot. Grandma, you have experienced that for years, as has Kel."

Jon ran his hands through his hair, frustrated. "You're right."

George and the others looked around dejectedly, clearly examining the incoming disaster of yet another war.

Adalia grinned wolfishly and looked straight into their eyes with determination. "That may not work, but I know what has a much better chance."

All eyes flew to Adalia, shocked. They saw her hard violet eyes and wolfish smile and applied themselves to listening to her idea.

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Adalia cheerfully followed her knight master out of the building, grinning. They had all taken much convincing, but in the end they had to admit that it had a much higher chance to work.

Adalia was practically skipping after Kel, who was more than slightly annoyed that she would even suggest her idea.

When they were a fair way away from the building, her knight master swung around and pointed an accusing finger at her chest. "Why didn't you tell me you could do that? … I hope you can do that! Gods! If you get yourself killed for doing something this stupid, I'll bring you back so I can kill you myself!" She said furiously.

Adalia cringed, "You're scaring me!" She said this mostly so Kel would be distracted from screaming at her, although it _was_ incredibly disconcerting having a woman who is at least a head or more taller looming over her accusingly.

Kel took a large breath and clasped her hands behind her back. Adalia was relieved, and started walking at a leisurely pace, forcing Kel to walk alongside her. _Hopefully I can get her to walk off the anger_. She glanced sidelong at Kel, who was glaring at her. She said reasonably, "You didn't ask. Oh, and I can do it, quite easily too, so don't worry."

Kel was still glaring at her, and Adalia knew she wanted something else. She turned to look at Kel seriously, "Why don't you be the one shooting? That way you don't have to bring me back to kill me…"

Kel wrung her hands at this, quite obviously imagining knocking some sense into the girl. When she started advancing on Adalia, clearly with something of the type on her mind, Adalia thought very quickly. "Ahh, Kel? If it's ok, I think I would rather go…"

Kel didn't stop advancing on Adalia, who was gazing at something behind her in shock, then screamed, "GRASSHOPPER!"

Kel span around instinctively, and started looking for whatever the girl had seen. Almost as soon as she had turned, she registered with annoyance exactly what the girl had said.

Swearing in Yamani, she span back around in time to catch the end of a black braid whipping around the corner. She crossed her arms, "That girl…" She couldn't say anything else, because suddenly the hilarity of the situation dawned on her, and she broke into uncontrollable laughter.

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Next Chapter: Exhibitions

I hope you liked it. He he he. If you want to try to guess what Adalia suggested, you can. I hope you like my idea, but there we go. The elusive loophole has been found, now the only problem is figuring out how to stop an incoming war.

This is Skyflyte12 thanking everyone for reading this story. Wish me luck in writing the next chapter, and I hope you like his one.


	26. Exhibitions

**Chapter 26: Exhibitions**

Adalia had successfully avoided Kel with her diversion, and was catching her breath while lounging against the board listing the knights and squires that were to be jousting when she heard an extremely familiar voice.

"Ady!"

Her head shot up and she saw Rye standing only a few metres from her. She had kept in contact with him during the almost eight months since she had departed with Kel, due to her darking, but they hadn't seen each other in that entire time.

Her eyes wide, she couldn't speak. She guessed that now she was older, something had changed within her. Seeing the almost seventeen year old in front of her, she noticed how handsome he was. Unkempt dark brown hair fell about his face, falling into his stormy grey eyes, which were glittering with something that made her feel… tingly. He was grinning broadly, and seemed to get over his shock first, and strolled over to be standing in front of her.

She was still in a state of shock, Adalia looked up into his face. He grinned and said, "What? Surprised to see me? I'm hurt. You should have known I'd be here."

This broke the spell on her and she scoffed, "No, I don't think I could miss the fact that you're here. I was alerted by your smell. I've _have_ been meaning to tell you how much you stink." Her eyes dancing, she crossed her arms.

His mouth was hanging open. He was staring at her in pretend shock.

Adalia laughed at his look, and jumped up to hug him. When they touched, she shivered agreeably. _Never had that before…_It seemed Rye's pride was mended when she hugged him, and he returned it warmly.

After savouring the feeling of Rye's arms around her, she looked up into his eyes and grinned mischievously as she broke from his protective hold. His face turned to a pout. "What? I don't get a kiss?"

She was still very close, and her mouth fell open at the audacity of that statement. Quickly it turned into a sly grin, "Have you been good?" She teased him, and started to walk away.

Just as she had been expecting, he followed her. He slung a hand around her waist and pulled her close to him. He looked into her violet eyes searchingly and whispered, "I missed you."

Adalia wrapped her hands around him and raised her face to his, "And I you." The next second she found her lips on his. A thrill ran through her like fire, and it left her breathless. After long moments they broke apart. Adalia was half dazed with passion, and as she looked into stormy grey eyes she could see that Rye was in a similar state. He had a smile playing across his lips as he looked at her face, and she could feel one on her own.

I hadn't realised the extent of how much I missed Rye until I saw him standing in front of me. Adalia thought, surprised at the feeling that he gave her. Seeing him again, she was surprised at the strength of her attraction to him. We are extremely good friends, discounting the…err…the fact that I…**love** him. Adalia was shocked that when she thought of Rye, that was what described her emotions. I don't know how to deal with loving someone. I guess I'll just have to see how this goes.

As this revelation hit her, she was also very aware that there were at least ten people in the vicinity that had seen her and Rye kissing. She knew that very soon she would worry about this, but right now she didn't care. She could tell that Rye didn't either. She winked at him; bringing them both out of the daze they seemed to be stuck in. "Walk with me."

She slid her arm around his waist, and he draped one over her shoulder, and they started walking. Adalia sighed. If she could spend more time with Rye, then she would be content. She felt Rye watching her, but she couldn't help but be bothered by the looks they were attracting. "Everyone is going to know about this in about five minutes." She said brightly, although there was a bitter part to her words.

"Just forget about it, Ady. You'll be ok." He grinned as she looked up into his face unbelieving. "They are scared of me. I'll do something big, and they will be so scared they will shut up." He said this in a grand voice, and Adalia couldn't help but laugh.

"No, I'm sorry to say I don't think you'll be able to do that." Adalia said sorrowfully, when she could master her expression.

He cocked an eyebrow and gazed at her questioningly. She gave a wolfish grin, "I think _I_ will be the one to do something about this, my young mage. It's already planned for tomorrow."

He was interested, and kept looking at her. Her expression turned to sheepish, she didn't want him to worry about what she was going to do tomorrow. "Umm…"

She was saved from explaining when Charlie and Kula came around the corner. She felt herself turn slightly red as they both raised their eyebrows. That's when she remembered Rye's arm over her shoulder and her own around his waist. She tried to extricate herself from his arm, but he tightened his hold. She raised her eyebrows at him, but he pretended not to notice.

_Damn damn damn._ Adalia glared at Rye, but he was in the process of greeting her friends. They turned to her, and it looked like Kula was trying not to laugh. "Hi. Wonderful seeing you here." Adalia said sarcastically.

"We wanted to know what the meeting was about." Charlie said after a glance at Kula, which told him she wouldn't be able to talk without laughing.

"Basically? Stuff about convincing Tusaine not to go to war with Tortall."

The three stared at her in shock. Kula abandoned her amusement, and said, "What?! I didn't think it was that bad. How are they going to do it?"

Adalia bit her lip. This question brought her back to what she didn't want to tell either of them.

"With a little help." She said evasively. She suddenly saw how she could get them to go away, and cringed inwardly at the conversation she would inevitably have to have with her friends next time she saw them. "Well, since you know, can we get a little privacy?"

She mockingly raised her eyebrow at Charlie, who was obviously itching to taunt her. She turned around and dragged Rye with her.

That day was pleasant for the both of them. They just walked around, talking about Adalia's missions with the Own, as well as Rye's various activities, which included lessons with his father, visits to the City of the Gods and various missions with the Riders. They also stole several kisses, usually in nooks from which they couldn't be seen.

They parted when Adalia realised that she had to go to the marshalling point for serving, and both walked off with grins plastered on their faces.

When Adalia walked in the hall, she saw all her friends glance up at her with large grins and a not-so-good gleam in their eyes. She turned around and walked right back out.

She heard Kula laughing as she calmly walked away, but the boys ran out after her. Daniel and Nathan, the oldest of the group, grabbed one of her arms each and lifted her bodily, carrying her back into the room.

"Come on, Adalia. You can't let your knight master down." Dameon said mockingly.

"I hate you all." Adalia said furiously, giving them a death glare. She was satisfied when they visibly quailed – _it must be unnerving due to the colour of my eyes_ – although they did not stop teasing her about her relationship with Rye. "Nothing has happened." She said bluntly.

"Sure." Nathan said, "We believe you." Adalia whacked him on the head.

The only thing that consoled Adalia was that this was not unusual behaviour – the times that the boys discovered either of her friends was in a relationship, they would taunt them as well. Adalia shook her head and said sorrowfully, "I pity any woman who gets stuck with any one of you."

They were unable to respond, because at that precise moment the Master of ceremonies swept in and started to order them about.

Throughout the serving, she kept hearing snippets of the court lady's conversations, all of which were bad for her. Countless times she heard phrases like "whore." Adalia decided that she couldn't care less what they said, because for once her relationship was real and not imagined. The only thing she hated were the glances her friends threw at her – they made her feel like reconfiguring their faces, because each time she felt herself turn pink.

As the Master of Ceremonies dismissed them to go eat, her friends swarmed around her. "With friends like you, who needs enemies?" She muttered heatedly. Kula patted her hand consolingly, while the boys kept asking her irritating questions, which she ignored.

They were almost to the door when Adalia snapped. She turned on them and glared, "SHUT UP!" They all gulped, but Daniel said, "And why should we do that?"

Adalia gritted her teeth. In a flash, she was brandishing her sword, "Next person to say anything about my choice in men can meet me on the practise courts."

They all instantly went white. Adalia thought that it was Dameon who started it, but quite suddenly they all ran away. Kula was laughing, and Adalia had a satisfied grin on her face. "Finally! I have reminded them why they never picked on me when I was a page!"

Kula shook her head, "It's a lesson I don't think they will need to be reminded of a third time."

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The following day at noon, Adalia was lounging on a seat that had an excellent vantage point; she could look into the stands. The exhibition matches were almost finished, and her exhibition that was meant solely to discourage Tusaine from going to war with Tortall was fast approaching. The crowd were cheering for the two knights who were facing off with swords. It was a large audience.

She grinned amusedly at an anxious Kel, who was gripping a bow. She had taken Adalia's mocking words to heart, and had insisted that she be one of the archers.

Kel was tense, and couldn't understand how a person who was about to be shot at could be relaxed. "Are you _sure_ you can do this? It's not too late to back out."

Adalia glanced at Jon, who was sitting next to the ambassador from Tusaine. The man was on the fat side, and seemed impatient for some reason. Adalia knew this was because he had been told that there would be a unique exhibition after the swords match. Everyone seemed expectant, and she was glad that no one knew what she would be doing until she was doing it. She couldn't imagine causing her friends to worry; she knew they still would, but at least it wouldn't be for very long.

"Kel, I'll be _fine_. It's not like I have a death wish." Adalia reassured her.

Suddenly the sword was yanked out of one of the knight's hands, and the match was finished.

Adalia grimaced. This was the start of the few moments that she had not been looking forward to. She didn't want her friends to be frightened for her. She glanced at them. They were in a group, conversing excitedly amongst themselves. _No doubt about the match._ Rye was with them as well.

Kel took a big breath, and then they walked out onto the field. The crowd quietened some, inspecting the lady knight and her squire. And then the announcement as to what this was going to be rang through the crowds, amplified by magic.

"Squire Adalia of Pirate's Swoop will be catching arrows, shot by the Lady Knight Keladry of Mindelan and Masbolle, as well as Sir Kingsley of Baintly from Tusaine."

The crowd went silent for a second, and then she heard mutters of "_catching arrows? That's impossible!_"

Adalia bit her lip and chanced a glance at her friends, all of which were white. They were obviously trying to digest the words. She could see Rye fall into his seat. She caught his eye. He was pleading with her silently; she understood that he was begging her to say the announcement was wrong. She shook her head to say no, and then smiled at him reassuringly. She knew he wasn't reassured. She'd have to remind him she had said she would be the one to do things to freak people out enough that they would leave her alone, once this was finished.

Kel and the other archer stopped walking at one end, and after they all bowed to the King and Queen, Adalia walked calmly to the opposite side of the field. When she reached it, Kel and the man had their bows set up, with two servants holding an armful of arrows for both archers.

Kel had the arrow on the string, even though she was obviously thinking she was insane for doing this.

Adalia nodded slightly to tell Kel to fire.

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The crowd in the stands were waiting with baited breath. Adalia's friends were telling themselves that the King and Queen, not to mention the Lioness, would hardly consent to Adalia being killed, although it didn't calm them. Both archers were set up, and the crowd watched intently as Adalia stood at her side of the field, relaxed and alert.

They watched as Adalia gave a small nod and Kel fired the first arrow. The man shot immediately after her; both set fresh arrows to the string and shot steadily, arrow after arrow, until they had exhausted all the extras held by the servants.

Adalia caught them all with grace and ease, snatching the arrows from the air as if she had all day to do so.

After the first arrow, the crowd collectively looked on in awe. After the next few, they began cheering the girl on. Nothing like this had ever been seen before. People had caught daggers, but never had anyone seen a person catching arrows.

Kel wiped her forehead after she had finished, clearly relieved. Adalia gave her thumbs up and gathered all the arrows in a bunch, and trotted over to the knights. She handed the arrows to the servants, who looked at her with eyes as wide as dinner plates, and then turned to shake hands with Kel and the foreign knight Kingsley. She noticed that the man was white, in much the same state as the servants. Kel, on the other hand, was just relieved that she hadn't killed her squire.

The three turned and bowed to the King and Queen, who were in much the same state. Adalia noticed with amusement that the ambassador seemed to be sweating, as well as twisting a cloth in his hands. That was a classic sign of nervousness.

The Royals inclined their heads, and Adalia and the two knights exited the field.

Kingsley walked away, and Adalia followed Kel around the stands. They were intercepted by Adalia's friends, who threw themselves at her. After checking to make sure that she hadn't been hurt, they stood in front of her. "_Never_ do anything like that again!" Rye said fiercely.

Adalia flinched, but retorted, "What? I'm ok aren't I?"

Kula punched her arm and said, "Yes, but the thing was you _knew_ what you were going to do and didn't tell us! What would have happened if you'd been killed? You could have at least told us."

Adalia looked guilty, "Sorry, but I didn't want you guys to worry for ages. This way, you only had to worry for a few seconds. I also didn't want you to try to stop me." She said the last to Rye. "It had to be done. I think I may have successfully put Tusaine off starting a war with Tortall."

They still looked slightly angry, but they had to agree with her logic. They gave her quick hugs, and then the squires went off for a bit of swords practise, as did Kel. When they had gone, Adalia turned to Rye. He still looked mad, but she rushed towards her and enveloped her in a tight hug.

There were many people who were exiting the stands that saw them, but they didn't even hear mutters about their 'improper' behaviour. Very soon after he hugged her, he let go to look at her sternly. "Don't _ever_ frighten me like that again, Ady."

She nodded and grinned weakly. Indicating the crowd, she said, "Told ya I'd put people off talking about me…or at least about my reputation. No doubt now they may just talk about how I can catch arrows, with any luck."

He grinned weakly and hugged her again. They wandered away from the stands, and Adalia got him to forget about her exhibition by teasing him.

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Around noon that very same day, Adalia was lounging in her tent, intent on completing a task set by Kel. It was part of the work the Knight had given her for causing her so much worry when volunteering to catch arrows, and she still expected the squire to complete it.

It was cold, and she was wrapped up in a blanket, scowling at the Logistics and Supply work that she had to do. "Kel gave this to me because she didn't want to do it herself." She muttered, annoyed.

"Curse her good sense. But now I am stuck with the head ache." Adalia muttered, half in irritation, half out of amusement that her knight master hadn't decided to do this sooner.

"I can give you something for that." An amused voice said from the entrance to her tent.

Adalia looked up and smiled at the visitor. Her grandmother was entering the tent, a very satisfied smile on her face.

"Yes _please_. That would be perfect." Adalia said delightedly, discarding the papers and jumping up to give Alanna a hug.

The Lioness hugged her back, "That was a great job you did, Ady. The ambassador high-tailed it back to Tusaine. Do you have any more tricks in your arsenal that I should know about?"

Adalia stayed in the embrace for a while longer, and then sat down on the floor, pulling Alanna down as well. She grinned teasingly, "Oh, grandma, you know better than everyone that my arsenal is unlimited."

Alanna shook her head, violet eyes glinting in amusement. "That's true. But that isn't the only thing I wanted to talk to you about. I've heard that you and Rye have been spending a lot of time together recently."

Adalia turned pink at this, and then said, "I really like him."

To Adalia's surprise, Alanna grinned and nodded, "I was wondering when he would tell you how much he likes you."

Adalia turned a deeper shade of red.

Alanna laughed, but sobered quickly. "How serious is this?"

Adalia tried to answer truthfully, "I like him, and we've been friends for ages. I don't think I'm ready to…" Adalia's voice ran out this was _extremely _embarrassing.

Alanna observed her granddaughter, and decided to save her from saying it, "Bed him?" She suggested. Adalia nodded, looking everywhere but at her grandmother. She was extremely uncomfortable; _I wish that I did not have to talk with my grandma about this…_

Alanna picked up papers that had been scattered when Adalia jumped up to greet her. She wasn't looking forward to this, but she knew that the girl needed to talk to someone. "You know what happens?" Adalia nodded furiously. "Good. One time is enough to get you with child. I suggest you get a charm against pregnancy, just in case you get carried away."

Adalia was thoroughly red by now, but she knew there was sense in her grandma's words. She nodded and hugged her grandma, "Um, thanks."

Alanna patted her on the back, "Love isn't a bad thing. I was once told that love eased an otherwise difficult path."

She kissed Adalia on the forehead, and then produced a present. It was extremely small. She pressed it into Ady's hand and said, "Word is Raoul and Kel are making a getaway tomorrow morning, against the very likely chance that Jon thinks twice about letting them exit the progress. Happy Birthday, for two days from now."

Alanna put down the neat pile of paper, leaving Adalia to process 'The Talk' that she had just endured. After a few moments, she glanced down into the object that was in her hand, and smiled ironically. It was an anti-pregnancy charm, on a very long chain._ At least I don't have to go buy one from the healers… Goddess! I hope I never have to have a talk like that again!_

She rested a cold hand against her burning face, and then slipped the charm over her head. It tucked into her breastband, so no one would even know she had it on.

After the red faded, Adalia returned to attacking the work set by Kel. She wouldn't get much chance to do it while they were travelling, and she knew that her knight master would leave before the crack of dawn, if only to travel with Raoul.

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That night she met up with her friends and said goodbye, as did Charlie. They both didn't want to, but knew it would be stupid to go and say goodbye at whatever time they stole away during the night/early morning.

Rye walked Adalia to her tent, and they shared one of those breath-taking kisses that left Adalia feeling all tingly. She stared after his retreating back, wishing that he could come with them. Her only consolation was that with Midwinter approaching, the Progress would end in about a month, and the Royals would return to Corus. Adalia could see Rye when she went back for the celebration.

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**Disclaimer: **NOT TP.

PLZ R&R, all comments appreciated.


	27. Getaway

**Chapter 27: Getaway**

"_Quiet!_" Kel whispered to her squire, who had just cursed after stubbing her toe on a tent pole.

Adalia was massaging her toe, but she stopped to glare at her knight master, "Oh, I'm so _sorry_ that my agonising _pain_ is inconveniencing you."

Kel just rolled her eyes at the theatrics of Adalia and finished fixing her bag to Peachblossom's saddle.

Adalia gave Kel one last glare and then jumped onto Anika. Sora was prancing in excitement. Adalia didn't share her warhorse's opinion. It was three hours after midnight when Kel had swept into her tent and ordered her to wake up and be quiet.

Charlie was disgustingly awake; it seemed that his knight master had kept him up by pacing and watching everyone go to sleep. He was treating it like some stupid spy mission, as was Kel. Adalia seemed to be the only one in the group of four who thought it was stupid to go at this ungodly hour; it wasn't as if Jon would stop them after he had promised to let them go, but it seemed Raoul wanted to take no chances.

Raoul was in the lead on Drum, with Kel close behind. Adalia was plodding along after Kel, and Charlie was at the rear. As they left the crowded grounds that all the knights were camping in, Raoul let out a sigh of relief.

Adalia was struck with inspiration and unlatched a length of rope that was attached to Anika's saddle. After telling Anika what she was going to do, she started tying herself to the saddle.

She was almost done when she noticed that Raoul, Kel and Charlie were staring at her with their eyebrows raised. She grinned impishly and said, "You may all be insane, but _I_ am going to catch up on some sleep." When she was satisfied that the ropes would keep her in the saddle, she lied down, cuddling against Anika's warm neck and promptly fell asleep.

"Fine then." Kel said, shaking her head.

Kel shrugged when Raoul turned to her for an explanation, "She does this kind of thing more often than you'd think."

Raoul took one more look at Adalia, with her black hair hanging over her serene face. He chuckled as he saw Anika looking out for low hanging braches, and taking care to walk so that the girl was jostled as little as possible.

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Raoul didn't let them stop until midday, at which time three of them were thoroughly exhausted. He led Kel and Charlie into a clearing. "I don't know about you, but I think it's about time we slept."

"Finally!" Kel said, having abandoned her mask due to exhaustion. "We could have stopped hours ago, Oh Paranoid One." Raoul ignored this.

Charlie just pulled out his bedroll and fell asleep on the spot, not bothering with the talk of the knights.

Raoul grinned, "There is one thing we need. A look out."

Kel watched as Raoul went over to Anika, who still held a sleeping Adalia. For the last couple of hours they had all decided that she had the right idea, and had tried to wake her up, if only because they were jealous. The problem was that she did not wake, and none of them could muster the energy required to go and shake her awake.

Raoul was right next to her ear when he bellowed, "WAKE UP!"

Adalia started and would have fallen off had she not been tied in the saddle. Charlie only turned over in his bedroll as Adalia grinned happily at the knight, "That was the best sleep I've had in ages."

"Its midday." Raoul said, annoyed.

"I can see that." Adalia used a trick to slip her hands out of the ropes, and then used them to undo her legs. She gave Anika a pat when she landed on the ground, and then stretched some kinks out of her back.

Kel was dragging out her bedroll, which she plonked down a few metres away from Charlie's. "You get to be look out. Wake us up for dinner."

Raoul had already plonked down on the grass; he didn't even bother with a bedroll before he began snoring.

"Well guys, it seems that we have some free time." Adalia said cheerfully to the horses gathered. She unsaddled and brushed them, and then asked them not to go too far away.

Next she took time to stretch, and then started practising, first without weapons, and then she moved on to the sword, glaive and finally using daggers; practising releasing them from their sheaths, just to make sure that they could all be accessed quickly.

Glancing at the sun, she decided it was time to make dinner.

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After travelling for three days, they caught up with Third Company of the Own. There were many wolf whistles as Kel flung herself into Dom's arms, and kissed him. Adalia was amused as she watched Charlie turn red. It was extremely discomforting for him to see his parents act like teenagers, but Adalia thought it was sweet that they still loved each other so much. Not many people could say that after almost seventeen years of marriage.

Third Company was actually going to a distress call from a nearby village that was being accosted by spidrens. Kel's sparrows discovered their hidey-hole and the men of Third Company soon cleaned it out, managing to rescue a child who had recently been taken.

By the time the hunt was done, it was getting much colder. Midwinter was only a few weeks away. Kel and Adalia decided to travell back to the palace with Third Company, which had been out longer than originally planned, and deserved a break, in Raoul's opinion.

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After a week of travelling, they were finally only a day away from Corus when they set up camp near a freezing cold river. Adalia, Charlie and Dameon were stuck cleaning dishes with a few of the men. Dameon and his knight master, Esmond of Nicoline, had joined them when they passed Trebond.

"I think I get stuck cleaning dishes every time." Adalia said irately, scrubbing off an unidentifiable glob of something that looked like it was once edible.

"If you had been nicer to the guy who assigns tasks, then I'd bet you would get a better job." Charlie pointed out conversationally.

She raised an eyebrow at him, "What have I done that is overly mean to him? Just cos he's a cry baby doesn't mean I'll let him win."

Charlie examined his friend, "You could have been a bit nicer about it. You didn't have to beat him in three seconds flat. Gods, you usually let them last for a few minutes before winning."

Adalia snorted and laughed, "I _told_ you. I didn't mean to beat him that fast. I moved really slowly and he was just a much worse swordsman than I thought. Also I was really bored. I don't appreciate those people who wait till I've fought at least twelve men until they jump in and chance a match to see if they can win."

Dameon was examining a newly finished plate, and he was very wary of the fact that this sounded like the beginnings of an argument that would likely set off Adalia's short temper. To divert this explosion he said, "There's no point arguing about what has already happened."

Adalia sighed and brushed some stray black hair out of her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah." With this, Adalia finished her pile of plates. "See ya later guys."

They gave her scathing looks as she wandered back into camp. "Why is she always first finished?" Charlie asked, annoyed.

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As Adalia walked into camp, Kel approached her. "Come on, squire. I think it's time for a spar."

Adalia whooped in delight and, quick as a flash, drew her sword. The Own men that had nothing to do quickly formed a circle, cheering them on. No one bothered to place bets, as all had seen Adalia's skill with the sword, not to mention various other weapons, and respected her for it. This was just entertainment, as none of them had ever seen the Lady Knight beaten so much by someone, and so repetitively.

"Go Kel!" yelled Dom from the sidelines.

"Go Adalia!" this was Charlie, who was now next to his father.

Kel glared mockingly at him, "You are _my_ son. You should be cheering for me!"

"I don't want to be associated with the losing side!" Charlie retorted. Adalia was laughing at these antics, and Kel took this chance to lunge at her.

Adalia parried and slipped away from the attack. Kel was mightily strong, just like any other knight, but Adalia could easily match and beat her. Adalia switched hands and, fast as lightning, slipped inside Kel's guard, pressing her blade to the knight's throat for a second.

Just as quickly, Adalia jumped away to be in a guard position. The soldiers cheered this, and watched as Kel began a series of chopping blows aimed at limiting her to defence. Each time Adalia blocked, a loud clang could be heard throughout the opening, attesting to the strength of each blow.

Adalia kept Kel turning, every now and then dealing out a blow of her own, although she mostly kept to the defensive. It was a spectacular fight that way, Adalia wearing down the experienced knight. It meant that she got much more practise, and Kel _was_ among the best.

A full twenty minutes after the start of the fight, Adalia took mercy on Kel and yanked Griffin out of her hand, sending it soaring up in the air. Kel was breathing hard, "Thankyou! Gods I thought that would never end."

The men were watching the sword, which was still in the air. Adalia stepped a little to the left and plucked the sword safely out of the air by the hilt, then handed it to Kel. Kel bowed to her, and Adalia saluted the woman. "Any other challengers?" She bellowed to the crowd.

She raised an eyebrow when someone said, "No one is that mad, Adalia!"

She laughed when there were sounds of consent from just about all of them.

"I'll have a go."

Adalia jumped at the woman who had parted the crowd and was grinning amusedly at the antics of the soldiers.

"Flick!" Adalia yelled delightedly.

The Shang Falcon grinned happily at her pupil and briefly hugged her back before stepping into a guard position.

A ripple went through the crowd, 'A _Shang_ fighting Adalia?' 'Who will win?' The bets started as Adalia calmly stepped back to square off with her trainer. None of them knew that the Shang had actually taught her, and that she could usually best her – except her fellow squires.

"Open?" Adalia questioned casually.

Flick grinned wolfishly, "Of course."

Adalia gulped, and groaned inwardly. This match could go either way, as she hadn't been able to practise both at the same time against an opponent while she had been a squire.

Kel moved to stand with the watchers, and repeated "open?" to herself. She had no idea what that was supposed to mean.

Charlie looked up at his mother, excited, "It means that they can do anything they like. It's usually a mix of swordsmanship and hand-to-hand, but sometimes they add daggers, if they have them. I know that Ady has at least four on her that I can see. It is amazing to watch."

Kel raised her eyebrows and gazed at the two intently. She had heard of that kind of contest, but so unusual it was that two Shangs would face off in a public area, that hardly anybody ever got to witness it. It was extremely impressive that Adalia could do this with a full Shang, as usually only the Shang attempted it. '_No wonder I can't beat her.'_ Kel thought.

The soldiers extended the circle a few meters on all sides, none of them wanting to get in the way of the fight. Now that all the bets were down, the crowd was silent. You could feel the anticipation building up between the watchers and the fighters.

Adalia mirrored the Shang's guard position, slipping into the state of mind necessary to stand a chance at this kind of combat. She scanned Flick's clothing, and upon seeing faint marks against her clothes, made a mental note to herself to watch out for the six or so concealed daggers. She had a few more than that, and was confident that a few of them were invisible in her loose clothes.

The calm gripped her. _Now I am ready for anything… at least I hope so._

The crowd watched as Adalia initiated the fight by swooping down on the Shang, bringing her sword down on her left hand side.

Flick blocked her with the sword, and aimed a precise kick at her legs, trying to trip her over. Adalia jumped it and brought out a dagger, using it to stop the sword that had swung around, trying to reach her neck to win the battle. The Shang yanked the dagger out of her hand, but at that precise moment Adalia succeeded in landing a punch to her arm.

It continued like this, neither staying still for longer than the few seconds needed to land a solid strike or block. It was amazing. The audience found it hard to follow, and often as not would only realise that a dagger had been brought into the fight when it landed a few metres away from the fighters, the owner having been disarmed. The odd glint of steel, and the deadly flashing of blades, the clang as each strike was deflected was breathtaking to behold.

The slender, violet-eyed, raven-haired girl moved with a catlike grace as she darted out of reach of a deadly sweep from the Shang. Her face impassive, only her eyes betrayed the intense concentration it was taking to stay out of reach. After all, not just anyone can hope to even match a Shang's skills, let alone best one at a match that is reserved for only the most advanced fighters.

The soldiers cheered on the fighters, all changing their opinion of the girl - again. Seeing her fighting earnestly against none other than a Shang, even the most stubborn of the lot had to admit to themselves that woman could fight at the same – or even better skill level – as a man could.

Kel was wide-eyed in shock. Never had she seen Adalia do anything like this. _She was going really easy on me this whole time. I must get her to teach me some of those moves_. She thought with amusement.

Adalia had just danced away from a twisting blow from Flick when she saw an opening in the Shang's defence. Ignoring the sweat dripping into her eyes, she dodged another strike and came up under her guard. With a movement the speed of lightning, her blade came to rest at the Shang's throat.

In no time at all, Adalia was aware of a dagger closing in on her throat. Having expected this, Adalia used one of her last daggers to block this one and yank it out of Flick's hand. The Shang grinned, "I'm done. I yield."

Adalia removed her sword from the Shangs throat and bowed to her. The crowd was cheering uproariously. Had she the breath, Adalia would have said that someone in the Copper Isles was probably wondering what was happening, but she hadn't. Flick and Adalia slumped to the ground. Kel came up and handed both a flask of water, clapping Adalia on the back, "That was fantastic. Next time, you are going to teach me a few new moves."

Adalia was too busy to respond, as she was downing the whole bottle of water.

Kel sat down next to her squire and decided to introduce herself to the Shang, "Hello. I am Sir Keladry of Mindelan and Masbolle. It was a pleasure to see you spar with my crow." She grinned and ruffled Adalia's hair.

"Flick Gordon, the Shang Falcon. Thankyou. I was the one who had the pleasure of training that crow for two years. Gods the mornings were horrible. How are you finding them?"

Kel shook her head, "Impossible. Have you any tips?"

Adalia groaned as she watched the women exchange methods of waking her up in the morning. '_It is going to be impossible to sleep in now.'_ They only spared her a glance before getting back to the conversation. Adalia leaned back on the grass, arms behind her head while Flick told Kel that she was on her way back to Corus, having been visiting Port Caynn, when she just happened across this spectacle and wanted to try a few rounds with her past student to see if she had kept in practise.

Kel and Flick got up and walked away, but Adalia just stayed in the grass, relaxed. That is, she _was_ relaxed, until Charlie and Dameon leaned over her. "Not dead, are you?" Asked a grinning Charlie.

"Dunno. Go away and come back later, I'll tell you then. Wait a second… never would be more preferable." Adalia replied after closing her eyes.

Dameon inspected her and said, "No, Charlie. I think she _is_ alive. She must be if she can be sarcastic."

Charlie reached down and tapped her lightly on the head. He got a surprise as Adalia grabbed his arm and flipped him onto the ground next to her, so he landed with a thud.

He winced, "Ow. Definitely alive."

Dameon laughed and plonked down on her other side. "Ady. If you don't get up, you don't get your daggers back." He taunted.

He dodged the blow aimed for his head and laughed as she hesitantly sat up. She scowled at the triumphant look on his face, but had no energy left to pound him into the ground. "If I had enough energy to make you pay for blackmailing me… who am I kidding?" She wiped some sweat off her forehead and turned to Dameon, "Can I _puh-leese_ have my daggers back now?" She begged mockingly, acting like a child missing her favourite toy.

Dameon used one of her daggers to tap his chin, "I don't know…"

She fluttered her eyelashes at him, employing puppy dog eyes. "You _did _promise."

Suddenly collapsed into laughter, unable to keep up the act.

She had been subtly pick-pocketing the other daggers from both the boys, and joined in the laughter, taking this moment of distraction to place them back on her person. It was a fun game to play, and she was certain they hadn't noticed her take them, intent on watching her Player's performance.

She suddenly stopped laughing and swiped the last dagger (not that they knew it) from Dameon's hand. She stood up and shoved it up her sleeve into its sheath. She then stuck her hands in her pockets, whistled innocently and walked away.

"Hey!" Dameon yelled, jumping up at the same time as Charlie and following Adalia over to the fire.

"You haven't got all the daggers yet." Charlie said smugly.

"Haven't I?" Adalia asked teasingly.

Dameon and Charlie shared a confused look, and then checked their pockets.

"HEY!" They yelled, and then started to chase her. She was laughing and mustered the energy to run away from them, darting in and out the men, who only laughed at the supposedly mature squires.

Finally Charlie and Dameon stopped chasing her, having remembered just how much endurance she had.

After giving them time to cool down, Adalia slipped down beside Dameon.

Charlie was annoyed. "How?"

Adalia just raised her eyebrows at him. He sighed, "Fine. Whatever. Don't tell us. But why did you filch some money as well?"

Kaden looked surprised and checked his money. Discovering that some was gone he looked accusingly at Adalia.

She looked surprised, "Hey, I'm only taking my share of the of the _profits_." She added emphasis on _profits_ to tell them exactly what she thought of them betting on her to win, when they knew that it was more likely that she would beat the Shang. They had seen her do it many times before.

They had the decency to turn pink and look at the ground. Adalia smiled satisfactorily to herself. Now she had more money _and_ she had those two feeling properly ashamed for their recent antics. Just goes to show that miracles _could_ happen.

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All the men in Third Company were awake early the next morning, including Kel and Flick, who had decided to travel the last leg of the journey with the soldiers. In fact, the only person still asleep in the whole camp was none other than Kel's errant squire.

Kel was eating breakfast with the Own with Flick sitting next to her, Dom on her other side. She turned to Flick after finishing her meal, "I think it's time that the crow wakes up."

An evil grin spread across the Shang's face, "I _have_ been missing torturing her in the mornings."

A matching grin touched Kel's face.

"I feel sorry for Adalia." Charlie said dryly from across the clearing, having heard the conversation. The men of the Own were obviously in accord with the boy, but like all soldiers, they loved a good prank, and it seemed like what ever the warrior women had in mind, it would be entertaining to say the least.

Everyone watched as Flick whispered in Kel's ear, and then both got up and walked over to the only closed tent.

Flick went to one side, Kel the other. Kel held up one hand with three fingers up. She counted down three silently. On one, they grabbed their respective sides of the tent and lifted it off the girl.

It is almost Midwinter at this time, which means was is really, really _cold_. They started laughing as they saw Adalia in her bedroll. She woke up really fast as the frosty air hit her.

Surprisingly, she looked calm as she sat up. The look she gave the two women was anything but. Adalia took in the many faces laughing at her, as well as her tent, which was sitting discarded a few yards away.

She then said sarcastically, "Oh har-de-har-har. Everyone laughs at the expense of me."

To the collective surprise of everyone gathered, the girl then made a wolfish grin. "Fine. Have fun cleaning up my tent."

Before they had registered this statement, Adalia had changed into a crow and flapped up to be perched on the high branch of a nearby tree.

The men started laughing. Flick and Kel were both rubbing their chins. Flick was the first to comment dryly, "She's got us there."

Kel sighed as she met Flick's eyes. Then she smiled, "You know, there is an upside to this."

"Oh?"

Kel's grin widened, "She _is_ awake."

The men broke into renewed laughter as the crow bawled at them mockingly.

Kel and Flick shared the task of packing up Adalia's tent and bedroll, as well as hitching them onto Anika and Sora. The men set off with Kel and Dom in the lead.

Adalia took care to fly over them, and had any of them understood crow language, they would have realised that she swore at her Knight Master and Evil Personal Shang; who were "Sent from the underworld to conspire to wake me up in dreadful ways."

The only thing that Adalia really took delight in was, after getting permission from Anika and Sora, doing one last sweep and then flapping off to Corus. She took pleasure in their annoyed calls at her; they all wished that they could get back as soon as she would.

Adalia was laughing inside on her flight to Corus.

She scanned the roads, and upon seeing them bogged with snow, she couldn't help but thank the women for giving her a good reason to fly home. Under these conditions, they would be lucky to arrive in Corus two days from now, while she would get there in about an hour.

The joke would definitely be on them.

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**Disclaimer: **NOT TP.

Well, I hope everyone enjoyed that. I worked really hard to make it longer. I thought it was about time I added more action, and this is the result. I hope you liked, although I just made it up as I went along!  A big thankyou to everyone who has been reviewing, I really appreciate them!


	28. Long Overdue

**Chapter 28: Long Overdue**

Adalia had enjoyed two days of sleeping in, warm fireplaces, beautiful meals and comfortable beds at the palace. The problem was that her estimation of how long it would take Third Company to return to Corus was up today.

She hadn't even been scolded for turning up without Kel and Third Company; she had simply explained what they had done to her, and Alanna and Jon had both agreed they all deserved what they got.

Adalia was sitting in the mess hall, joking with Rye about what they were likely to do with her when they got back all cold and discovered that she had been lounging around for two days while they had been experiencing the wonders of snow, when she heard loud crow bawls.

Cocking an ear, she grinned in delight as her 'recruits' that were watching the road for the incoming company said that they were almost in Corus.

Rye was looking at her, one eyebrow raised, "What?"

Adalia grinned largely and said, "They're here."

Rye chuckled as Adalia jumped up from her seat and left him with her empty plate. She absentmindedly fluttered her fingers at him in a goodbye while her mind was obviously taken up with other things.

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"Calm Down and stop pacing, squire. You're making me dizzy."

Adalia stopped in her pacing to grin sheepishly at one of the soldiers who were guarding the gate. The man was grinning and obviously amused by her antics. He was part of First Company, and Adalia knew him from when she and Kel travelled with them.

Adalia forced herself to take a deep breath. After she had mastered herself, she jumped up to be sitting on the wall, her legs dangling over the side. She grinned when she saw Kel, Raoul, Dom and Flick at the lead. The soldiers looked mud splattered and miserable, as did the knights. The weird thing was that Kel had a crow on her shoulder.

Adalia jumped straight over the edge, falling the large distance, but landed lightly at the bottom. She grinned wickedly as she ran over to Kel, who was looking more than a little confused. Kel and the company had stopped in their tracks, and Adalia trotted over to be standing in front of Kel and Hoshi. She gave a graceful bow, "I am pleased that you finally got here. I've had all this free time and was looking for entertainment."

She could hear soldiers snort and start chuckling, as did Charlie and Dameon, who were behind the knights. The crow that was perched on Kel's shoulder gave a large caw and flitted over to be perched on Adalia's shoulder.

"What? …" Kel asked. She was confused. As far as she knew, Adalia was the crow that had stuck with them while they were ploughing through the snow. It had certainly been annoying enough.

Adalia grinned wickedly and indicated the crow, "You thought that this was me? You should really learn to distinguish one crow from another. She just wanted to be fed more, and I wanted to get out of the cold. We struck up an agreement."

Kel was looking annoyed, and signalled the company to go. Adalia jumped up onto Sora, who had been trailing with Anika behind Kel. Obviously they had realised that neither would need to be led.

Raoul raised his eyebrows, "How long did it take you to get back?"

Adalia tapped her chin thoughtfully, "As the crow flies, it takes almost an hour. It would have been faster but I had to take a few minutes rest when I was laughing too hard at how long it would take you to plough through the snow."

Adalia grinned as Kel looked murderous, and directed her next comment at her, "I knew you would worry if I didn't come back, so I arranged it so you would think I was still there." The crow that they had assumed was Adalia gave a loud squawk and flapped away.

Adalia crossed her arms, 'It's not my fault that you as good as begged me to go. I mean, come on. Who lifts a tent off of a person this close to midwinter?"

They had reached the stables and Adalia jumped off Sora, giving both her horses the apples that had been concealed in her coat, and then asked them to follow her to the sables. Kel lead Hoshi and Peachblossom to the stables, scowling at her squire. "If I wasn't too exhausted and frozen I would force you to joust with me right now."

She smiled slightly at the look of fright that crept over Adalia's features, even though she knew the girl was mostly doing it as a joke; Adalia wasn't that bad at jousting, it was just that she was too afraid of hurting her opponent, which unfortunately led to her getting beaten. Kel was trying to cure her of it, but it seemed that the day she had smashed the dummy to pieces was still fresh on her mind, and the girl wanted to take no chances of not realising her own strength.

Kel rolled her eyes at the girl, "Lucky for you, I am too exhausted and frozen. I'm going to sleep to thaw out. You can do what you want for the moment."

Adalia cheered in delight and started untacking Sora.

Once both were done looking after the horses, Adalia was starting to skip away happily when Kel called after her, "Oh. When I wake up we are going to joust."

Adalia gulped, and spun on the spot as her knight master, who was looking positively delighted to have got her back, walked off in the direction of her rooms.

Hearing laughter from behind her, she scowled and crossed her arms. She turned to face Kula, Charlie and Dameon. After glaring at them, she walked off to her room.

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That night Adalia was in her room with the door locked, using Shard to talk to her mother, as was her weekly ritual. She smiled, "Oh Ma, I miss you soo much."

The beautiful woman with strawberry blonde hair and green-hazel eyes smiled at her daughter, and then sighed, "I miss you as well, Ady. We all do."

They looked at each other, and Adalia noticed that it looked suspiciously like her mother was moving up and down. Aly seemed to be arguing with herself about something.

Adalia's brow creased as she thought why her mother would be rocking. "Ma, why are you on a ship?"

Aly's eyes sparkled as she started laughing, "Well, that solves my problem. Ady, you should be proud. Aidan bet your dad that you wouldn't catch on, but apparently you are more observant than he thought."

Adalia grinned crookedly at her mother, "He has obviously forgot that I'm as smart – or smarter than he is. I think his head has inflated too much."

Aly grinned, "Not my fault, he has become quite dashing, and all the court ladies are just swarming at him. I have done my share to deflate it, but that is part of the reason he is coming with us to visit you. He also misses his sister."

It took Adalia a few seconds to process the main point of that sentence, and she blinked in surprise, mouth hanging open. "You are coming here?" She asked incredulous, hardly able to believe it.

Aly grinned at her daughter, "Yes. The Copper Isles have sent ambassadors to cement the alliance with Tortall. And who better to send then relatives of the Lioness?"

"Goddess! That is the best news ever! Ma, I'll be able to see you and Da and Aidan again!"

Aly rolled her eyes, but was grinning broadly, "Well, that _was _the reason I volunteered. Aidan wants to meet Alanna and George as well, and it _has_ been years since I have been able to see my parents."

Adalia talked excitedly with her mother. This visit was long overdue. Suddenly the five years since she had left the Isles felt like a lifetime.

She ended the conversation reluctantly when she heard the bell that signalled for everyone still awake to go to sleep. She couldn't believe that she would be seeing her family in two days.

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Two days after the exciting revelation that her ma was visiting Tortall, Adalia was fidgeting while standing next to her grandma, who was in much the same condition. It was obvious that she was eager to see her daughter again, and her grandson, who she had never met. The morning after learning that her ma was coming, Adalia had paid a visit to her grandma, who had only smiled sheepishly and said she had wanted it to be a surprise for midwinter.

"There's the ship!" Adalia said excitedly. A squad of the Own, as well as Alanna and Adalia, had come to greet them. Kula had stayed at the palace; Alanna and Kel had temporarily swapped squires so that Adalia could be in Port Caynn to greet her parents. (Kel had said she got the better deal, and had whisked Kula away for some jousting. Kula had said Adalia got the better deal.)

The_ Temaida_ docked easily, and Adalia was delighted to recognise some of the Raka that were working on the ship. She and her brother had spent a lot of time all over Rajmuat, trying to avoid being found by her mother. Even though they were usually found quickly, they had both managed to make friends throughout the capital. Everybody was really friendly, especially to the children of the revered Duani. She and her brother would love to spot her mother's spies and then sneak up on them from behind, giving them a freight before scampering off and disappearing again.

She jumped the fair distance onto the ship before it had lowered the gangplank that would allow them to exit it. She swept into a large hug with her mother, father and even Aidan. A few moments later Alanna had boarded the ship and Aly had wiggled out of the hug to hug her mother.

Adalia took a large breath and stepped out of the hold of her father and brother and smiled, "Long time no see."

Aidan and Nawat smiled, "Too long." Adalia jumped in to hug her dad again. Her grandma interrupted by smiling warmly at her da. He smiled and shook her hand, "It's good to be here."

After greeting Nawat, Alanna turned to Aidan. "It's good to meet you, Aidan. Let me get a look at you."

Adalia saw Aidan smile nervously, and draped an arm over her twin's shoulder, reassuring him. When they were younger, the twins were hard to tell apart, except for her longer hair, but now it seemed they had changed; Adalia realised that she looked more like a woman, and he a man. He had the same violet eyes and raven black hair as Adalia, and they were about the same height. The noticeable difference was that Aidan had muscles. Adalia was jealous of those. She had not gained muscle, even during the rigorous training schedule, because she had inherited the crow's abilities. So even though she was about five times stronger than the average man, she didn't look it. Her twin, on the other hand, had only inherited their mother's Sight. The strength of their abilities could only be explained that since they were not divided between them, each respective twin had gotten the full power of what they inherited.

Alanna smiled and hugged the boy. "It's good to finally meet my grandson."

"It's good to meet my famous Grandmother. Is what they tell me true? That Adalia inherited your temper?"

Adalia scowled and hit him on the head, while Alanna just laughed. Aidan had no temper to speak of, but he loved to tease.

Adalia went around and greeted the people she recognised on the ship, and then walked off the ship with her family, her father and mother's arms draped over her shoulders.

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Aly, Nawat and Aidan received a Royal welcome when they arrived at the palace. Alanna and Adalia showed them to their rooms. When they arrived, Aly slumped down on one of the beds and smiled wickedly, "Adalia. Could you go get your friends? I want to meet all the people I've heard so much about."

"Sure." Adalia shrugged, not really sure why her mother was looking slightly evil. She turned around and walked to the door, when her mother called after her, "Don't forget Rye. We've heard a lot of interesting things about him. He sounds really nice."

With the knowing look her mother gave her, Adalia was sure that she had found out about their relationship, '_Does nothing slip by a spymaster? … No, wait. That's her mum side, not the spy master.'_

She ran out quick. '_How could she have… I haven't told her.'_ While racking her brains as to how her ma could have found out, she ran to find her friends. They were in the mess hall, at the squire's table. She grinned as she saw that Nathan, Kaden and Daniel had arrived at the palace as well. She signalled to her friends to go to her parent's suite after lunch, and then turned around and searched for Rye.

She had no idea where in the palace he could be, and searched the Rider's mess, his parent's suite and the stables. After checking a few more places without finding Rye, she cursed and slumped onto a bench. That's when the obvious way to find Rye struck. She furtively looked around, and upon seeing no one, lifted her wrist that had Shard on it close to her face. "Shard, could you find Rye?"

In an instant, Shard said, "Rye with Aly."

Adalia blinked at her darking. Rye was with her ma. "Why is he there?"

"He say he look for Ady. Aly say she come soon, and he say he wait there."

"Well, at least ma didn't go looking for him." Adalia muttered. Jumping up, she started jogging towards her family's rooms. It was then that another obvious thought struck her, and she looked at Shard. _'Duh. Shard told ma. Idiot! Why didn't I realise that before?'_ Feeling more than a little stupid at not realising her darking would report to her ma, she went to her family's suite.

She knocked on the door, and upon entering, discovered that all her friends were talking eagerly with her family, and laughing. "About time you got back." That was Kula, and she was grinning slightly.

Adalia pushed some hair out of her eyes and glared at Rye, "Well, I was told to find my friends, and I couldn't find one of them. Lucky I decided to check here hey?" Rye smiled sheepishly and returned to a conversation with her ma, of all people.

She went over and sat next to her brother, who was entertaining her friends with childhood stories of her.

"- and she fell into the harbour!" Her friends broke into giggles, and Adalia scowled at her brother and hit him over the head.

"You're back for half a day and already I wish you were mute." Adalia said with mock anger.

He grinned charmingly, "Oh, sis. How I have missed your temper." She responded by hitting him again.

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Adalia and her friends left only when the dinner bell rang. Aidan had made quick friends with them, as did her parents.

They grabbed dinner and sat down at the squire's table. Rye had split off from the group to go eat with his parents. Kula turned to Adalia, "Your bother is nice."

Adalia raised her eyebrows, "If annoying translates as nice, then I suppose so."

Daniel grinned, green eyes dancing, "He told us some very interesting stories."

Adalia scowled, "Which you are not to repeat."

"Oh, but they are so … entertaining." Kaden said grinning wickedly.

"Which is why. I'll have to tell you about his childhood sometime." She grinned and told them some of the more funny things that her brother had done, which had them all in stiches.

After dinner, Adalia retired to her room and snuggled under the warm sheets.

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In the morning, Adalia woke up to someone banging on her door. Suddenly a lock clicked and in waltzed Kel, her mother and her grandmother, all looking wary. Behind them, Flick was lounging against the doorframe. Kel leaned against the closed window.

By this time, Adalia was extremely suspicious at why they had all came. She was still tired, but she realised that they had some news that she probably wouldn't like.

Alanna grinned, "As you know, the King is holding a banquet for the Copper Isles ambassadors."

Adalia rubbed her eyes and nodded. The pages and squires would be serving tonight, because a lot of knights had been ordered to attend.

"You will be attending."

Adalia still looked confused, "Yeah, I know. I will have to serve."

Alanna shook her head, "No, you have to _attend_."

Adalia was glancing at the exits, and realised that Kel and Flick were blocking them. Her growing horror was evident on her face and in her voice with her next comment, "No."

"Yes. And you will be wearing a dress, and you have to take lessons on curtseys." Said a woman from the door. Adalia looked at the woman, and to her dismay, noted it was the Queen. This was a Royal order.

Adalia swore in Kyprish, and her mother scolded her, although she was looking amused. Adalia turned to her mother and pleaded that she not go. Aly raised her eyebrows, "What's this? A daughter of mine not wanting to wear a dress?"

Adalia scowled, "Of course not! It will be embarrassing! I am a _squire_. Squire's don't wear dresses."

She had said the last in Common, and to the whole room. Alanna looked amused, "Unfortunately, _female_ squires are sometimes required to. I will be wearing a dress tonight as well, and I'm a knight."

Adalia put her face in her hands. Flick, understanding why the girl was obstinate (due to observations during her page years) walked over and put an arm on her shoulder. "It won't change much. _You_ won't change."

Adalia looked into her brown eyes and showed her how much she didn't want to do this, showed everyone. "_I_ won't, _they_ will."

Although most were confused by this conversation, Alanna stepped up, "Don't worry Ady, you'll be beautiful."

And with that they gathered around and pulled her out of the room, off for the cliff notes version of being a lady. None of them heard the whispered reply, _"That's what I'm afraid of."_

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Well, I hope you all enjoyed. He he he, the mystery is revealed.

Next Chapter: Of Dresses and Banquets.

Note: If anyone has any cool ideas for what could happen in her last three years as a page, I'd love to hear your ideas. Doesn't mean I'll use all of em, but you guys will probably be able to tell me stuff you would like to read about, which will make the story better. Ok. A big thankyou to all reviewers, past and future.


	29. Of Dresses and Banquets

**Chapter 29: Of Dresses and Banquets**

Adalia was standing in a soft violet coloured dress. It was simple, had a modest neckline and delicate silver embroidery along the trims. She hated every single moment of this day.

She was still a bit shocked that they had actually got her into the dress, but it was by no small effort on their part. She had pulled a dagger on the poor maid who had brought a corset for her to wear, and although her Mother, Grandmother, Queen and EPS (Evil Personal Shang) had searched her person for daggers, they hadn't found anywhere near all of them, which became evident when they had tried to get her in heels. She had won the argument about the corset, but not the shoes.

Even though she had conceded defeat at the Royal Order, she didn't like it, and had decided to make things as difficult as possible.

At this moment, she was finished and deemed suitable for attending the ball. When she stood up, she saw that all the women in the room were looking at her, obviously astounded at the change in her appearance. She crossed her arms and scowled at them. She didn't like the way they were looking at her. Flick, noticing her expression, shook her head and pointed to the mirror behind her.

Adalia didn't want to look. This was the moment she didn't want to come to pass. If she didn't see herself, maybe she could stay away from what was closing in on her. Alanna grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face the mirror. There wasn't enough time for her to close her eyes against her own image, and she found herself looking at an extremely beautiful young woman. The dress complimented violet eyes. Long raven black hair flowed in waves around her shoulders and down to about the middle of her back. She was stunningly beautiful. Her worst fears confirmed, Adalia covered her eyes with her hands and swore.

This seemed to shock the women who were captivated by the young woman's beauty, enough that they broke out of the amazement at seeing Adalia in something other than oversized practise clothes. Even her mother and grandmother were shocked at seeing her like this.

Adalia slumped down into a chair, resolutely looking away from her reflection. Thayet said dryly, "I don't think we've ever had that reaction before."

Adalia was fighting back frustrated tears, "I don't _want_ to be beautiful. I didn't _ask _to be beautiful. No one will ever leave me alone now."

Aly went over to hug and comfort her daughter, but raised her eyebrows, "You don't get to choose. I bet all the young ladies at court wish they could be half as beautiful."

Adalia looked up at her mother and grumbled, "They can have it then, I don't want to be."

Alanna went over to her and hugged her as well, but said carefully, "No one can choose. You are how you are made, and no one can change that."

Adalia looked at the floor, depressed. She was also trying desperately to think of a way she could get out of attending. She hated that people that she had trusted had taken it upon themselves to force her into this. She understood that she needed to be at the banquet, but did not want to be seen like this. Her common sense was telling her that she had been lucky to fly under the radar for so long. Her gut was twisting with nervousness at what the reactions to her 'transformation' would be. She would have to do a lot of fighting. All of a sudden she grinned.

"There ya go. You'll be fine. Nothing will change." Aly said.

Thayet nodded and said, "Now we are done, Alanna will escort you back to your room in Kel's suite. Kel will collect you and take you to the Hall soon."

Adalia looked up at them, hiding the confusion she felt inside. She hadn't thought they would leave her alone until she was actually in the banquet hall.

She followed her grandma out into the corridor silently; mind whirring with the numerous ways she could escape attending now. As her grandma hugged her reassuringly and ushered her into the room, Adalia realised why they suddenly trusted her not to run. It was because she had smiled. The bluff wasn't her intension, as she had been delighting in all the new 'challengers' she would attract, and the chances she would have to kick their butts. She shrugged mentally. It was much easier to avoid the whole situation.

Striding over to her window, she relaxed against the sill. She was able to spot at least three men watching her window. This actually reassured her some, as it meant that the Monarchs weren't so gullible as to allow her an easy escape. She sunk back into shadows, so she could see out, but the guards couldn't see her, and examined the familiar grounds.

I will have to hide on the roof until it starts, then I should be able to go back into my room and climb into regular clothes. I don't have time now. How will I get past the guards? Ah, I know!

Grinning in anticipation, Adalia called to some crows that were lounging in the nearby forest. They promptly created a huge distraction, one that drew the lookout's eyes immediately.

Almost sad that it wasn't harder to distract the soldiers – almost, but not quite – she stepped towards her window. She had one leg out the window when the ruckus caused by the crows suddenly stopped. Adalia frowned as she realised she was frozen with one leg out the window. She looked out into the grounds and saw that everything was frozen. Crows were stuck in mind flight; one of the sentries was in the process of falling - Ow. That looks like it will hurt in the morning - and nothing made a sound. Everything was silent… until Adalia heard a soft but powerful voice question lightly, "Adalia, have you forgotten your promise to me?" Adalia's eyes snapped towards the voice.

Standing in front of Adalia was the Goddess.

She was still the tallest woman Adalia had ever seen. Her skin was perfectly white, setting off slanting emerald eyes and full red lips. Her hair was unbound, falling loosely below her shoulders in black, snaky locks.

Examining the unnaturally perfect face, she saw clear amusement, which seemed to starkly contrast to the question that she had just received.

Adalia, very aware of her uncompromising position, just stared at the Goddess. She smiled, and suddenly Adalia was able to move again. Carefully she pulled her leg back into the room, and pulled a face when she realised her current attire. Adalia, not quite sure what the Goddess was on about, curtseyed just as Thayet had taught her that morning, thinking of what to say. She decided on the truth, "Of course not. But there hasn't been much extra things I could do, other than what I have been doing."

The Goddess nodded regally, having already known this. "There is one last thing you must do."

Adalia was confused, but at once became excited. This could be the thing she had been searching for to avoid attending the banquet. It could provide her with a reason not to go, and she may not get in too much trouble.

The Goddess smiled and said, "I don't think you will be so happy to do this, my daughter. But you must."

Adalia tilted her head to the side and gazed questioningly at the Goddess.

The Mother stated firmly, "You must attend the banquet. This is the last barrier between girls coming to train to be knights. You yourself identified it soon after our first meeting. You will be brilliant, my daughter."

With this, the Goddess put her hands on Adalia's chin and lifted her face, so that she was looking her directly in the eyes. She gave her a firm look, and the glint of defiance in Adalia's eyes disappeared, to be replaced with bleak resignation. The next moment the Goddess was gone.

Suddenly the grounds sprang back into motion, and Adalia stood as if frozen. She turned back to look out the window, where the crows were flapping away, and the guards eyes were trained back on her window (excluding the one rubbing his head, lying prone on the ground).

Suddenly she threw her hands up into the air and cursed explosively. After that was finished, she settled down onto her bed, head in her hands.

_Just great. I was actually willing to disobey a Royal Order, but I can't disobey a Greater God. Even so … No. Not a good idea. And I did promise.' _Adalia would have to walk down the stairs and join the nobles. Unable to stay still, she started pacing and thought over the Goddess's words.

Her mind was spinning. '_Why do I have to wear a dress? What is the last barrier between more girls becoming pages? They are accepted now, ever since I was kidnapped. All the past female knights have proven that we can be battle ready… what…' _

Suddenly Adalia scowled grimly. The reason had presented itself as she caught her reflection in her small mirror.

She remembered what she had thought the morning after meeting the Goddess; 'The problem is that the girls are afraid of being seen as unwomanly.' _Yup, that sounds exactly like what my predicament could fix. Trust the Goddess to take pleasure in my worst nightmare coming to pass. Obviously she couldn't have me running, so decided to come on down and make me go. Great. First Royalty ordering me, and now the Gods. The world is against me._

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Adalia was still pacing around her room, waiting was nervously waiting for Kel and Alanna to come get her and direct her to where she would be forced to descend the stairs, an hour later. The only thing she liked about this whole situation was that Kel and Alanna had to be introduced as well. They were slightly happier about it that Adalia, but not by much.

She grinned sheepishly as she thought about how much of a struggle she had put up. _It probably wasn't the best idea to pull a dagger on a maid with a corset… but at least I can breathe._ The only good thing about having this long to wait was that she had taken the opportunity to position as many daggers on her person as possible. She had also put on breaches underneath her skirts. No one would even know they were there, and she would feel much more comfortable.

She had had much time to think about why she had covered up her beauty, and was in the process of imagining the reactions she would get. The only things she could think of, however, were her valid reasons for covering it up. She was glad her friends hadn't seen her yet. They had not had time to come try and break her door down for a glimpse of this 'momentous occasion' because they had to eat an early dinner, in preparation for serving at the dance that would be held after the banquet.

There was a small chance that they wouldn't see her and Adalia was clinging to this; it was the only hope she had. She hoped that her friends wouldn't see her looking this way. The reason she had wanted no one to notice her beauty was that the boys would become weird, and she didn't want to be treated differently. Although she knew that Daniel, Kaden, Charlie, Nathan and Dameon would not change, she hated to think of the others males that would try to take advantage of her. She would just have to pound these notions out of their brains.

Another reason was that the boys were already weaklings, and if they saw her as a lady they may want to 'not hurt her' meaning they wouldn't try to beat her, meaning she may accidentally hurt them more than usual. And she wouldn't get good matches with any of them.

Suddenly there was a tentative knock on the door connecting her room to Kel's, and Adalia took a deep breath. She slowly walked over to the door and opened it. She scowled when she saw her knight master, who was deriving pleasure from her compromising situation, "I was hoping that you had forgotten me."

"Sorry, No such luck." Kel said with a small smile at her errant squire, although she was not so much looking like a squire as a shockingly beautiful lady.

Kel was in a sapphire blue dress, looking graceful next to her handsome husband, Dom. He looked shocked upon seeing the girl, but he quickly covered it up with a smile. He turned to Kel, 'Wow. Where did your unruly squire go? I don't recall a lady."

Adalia stuck her tongue out at him, violet eyes sparkling, and made a show of gathering her skirts and stepping out of the room. She was happy that he had only made a joke of it. She then followed behind the couple, getting more and more nervous at seeing the amazed looks on the servants.

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Adalia was softly moving nervously from foot to foot. Kel had told her not to pace, so she had resorted to walking on the spot. It was disconcerting at how many looks she was attracting, and she wasn't even in the hall. There were only a few more lords and ladies waiting to be introduced, and very soon it would be Adalia's turn. Her parents and brother would be introduced once everyone was seated.

There were some court ladies, about her age, who were glaring at her. She got the distinct impression that they were jealous of her. It seemed at that moment, they wanted to be her. She would have been more than happy to let them be her at that moment. She turned her back to them and continued muttering about how ridiculous it was that she should be here. She approached Kel and pleaded with her in Yamani, "Can I please not do this?"

Kel looked at Adalia and grinned in amusement, "Why? Even I would have liked to be as beautiful as you are. It won't be bad. All you have to do is walk down the steps."

"But I'll be going down _alone_. Gods that's scary."

Kel looked over her shoulder and grinned, then addressed Adalia again in Yamani, "I don't think you have to worry about that either."

Adalia was confused to feel a tap on her shoulder. She turned around, and upon seeing Rye, looking extremely handsome in formal attire, let out a stifled yelp and hugged him. _Thank the gods that I don't have to go alone._ She thought fervently. She also couldn't help but be delighted he would be her escort; at least the meal wouldn't be boring.

She quickly released him, blatantly realising that this was not what a proper court lady would do. She stepped back and curtseyed gracefully, just as she was taught that morning.

He started laughing, "Ah, I guess the lessons were learnt then, Ady?" Rye noticed her face darken, and said quickly, "I must say, I'm surprised they got you in a dress, Ady. I thought you would rather have hypothermia than be stuffed into a dress. What do you say now, having experienced both?" He teased.

Adalia scowled, "I'd still take the hypothermia. Gods, everybody has been looking at me weirdly…wait a second, why didn't you?"

He laughed and leaned in close, then whispered into her ear, "I always knew you were this beautiful, Ady."

She shivered agreeably and turned slightly pink. He stepped back and teasingly bowed to her, offering his arm. She took it, in slightly better spirits now that she had talked to Rye. She realised that he had been trying to cheer her up, and was slightly annoyed that he had been even slightly successful. She wasn't in the mood to be cheered.

In no time at all, Kel and Dom were introduced. Adalia was standing next to Rye, who was trying to joke with her. She had stopped listening to him, and had started looking for exits again, almost subconsciously. They were introduced as "The Mage Rikash Salmalìn and Squire Adalia of Pirates Swoop."

Adalia tightened her hold on Rye as they walked out the door. She got more than a little amusement at seeing many mouths fall open in surprise. She somehow endured the walk, quickly curtseyed to the King and Queen, the later of which seemed relieved that she had turned up, and went to take her place at a table near the Royals. She and Rye would be sitting next to her parents.

Shortly afterwards, Her ma, da and brother were introduced, and the proper formal greeting was given by the King in front of the assembled nobles. Aly took the chair on Adalia's right, giving her a subtle squeeze on the shoulder for reassurance. Very soon after, pages entered the dining hall, in varying states of (visible) nerves, carrying water bowls for washing hands, and towels. Adalia felt sympathy for each and every one of them. The third year page that brought the bowl around to her table stared openly at her as he offered the bowl. She raised her eyebrows at him. He was two years younger than her, and even though they were not close friends, they were friendly towards each other. As she dipped her fingers, she whispered teasingly, "Shut the door, you're letting in flies."

He shut his mouth, but as he moved on to offer Rye the bowl, he couldn't help but glance back at the transformed Adalia. He knew her as the extremely ferocious and deadly page that could move at least five times faster than the average person… to see her like this was weird. She looked vulnerable, even if, in his mind, he was remembering the countless times he had seen her beat a Shang at various weapons. It was hard to connect his memory with the present. Everone seemed to be having similar problems reconciling both images.

Adalia was twitching with the annoyance of constantly feeling many eyes on her.

She joked around with Rye, and they had bets running on who would be the first page to drop a plate. Rye had her laughing at some stories that sounded ridiculous. They mostly involved either he or Sarra, while they were getting a hold on their magic. They had a mock challenge with each other, to see who could think up the weirdest thing that happened while they were mastering their abilities. Rye won that one, having managed to, as a child, turn into an eagle and be adopted by a nest of the birds. Daine had found him a few days later, thankfully unharmed.

Adalia laughed as she told Rye that, as a six year old, she had entered an arm wrestling contest and beaten huge men, much to their dismay, for the others had bet against her, not realising that even as a six year old, the crow's strength was still great.

Aly joined in and told them hilarious tales that occurred during the raka rebellion in the Isles, as well as some of her earlier pranks when she was still in Tortall. Adalia liked the idea of blue hair. A devious twinkle in her violet eyes, she asked thoughtfully, "Do you know the potion the mages used?"

Aly caught her daughter's eyes, and thought carefully. "No. But you could always ask at the university."

Rye felt uneasy at the smile that Ady made, which was the essence of mischief. She turned to him and looked at him imploringly, "Do you know it?"

He couldn't resist laughing, and replied, "Yes. But I don't think it'll work on your black hair. Remember that we used it in your first break on Lord Padraig? But we turned his hair pink."

Adalia grinned sheepishly and said, "Oh. Forgot about that."

Aly was laughing, "Is that all you forgot about? Or is there a series of pranks that I should know about?"

Adalia grinned hugely and said innocently, "No. Why would you think that?"

Aly raised an eyebrow, green-hazel eyes twinkling in curiosity.

Adalia laughed and clarified, "I haven't _forgotten_ them."

Aly laughed and prodded her daughter for details of her pranks. Adalia obliged, with Rye adding details that her daughter had forgotten.

Between Rye and her mother, with the occasional comment from her da or Aidan, the banquet turned out to be enjoyable, even if people wouldn't stop constantly looking at her. She simply forgot about all the eyes after a while, and before she knew it, everyone was standing up.

The King and Queen lead the way to the large hall dedicated for the dance. Rye led Adalia by the hand into the large room, following the stream of people. She tried to pull out of his arm, in favour of attempting to hide behind something – like a large drape – but Rye tightened his hold and smiled charmingly at her. She glared at him, but he grinned wider at her. He knew that she knew that she would not be able to refuse, and he highly doubted that she would use physical violence to get away – at least on him – and he decided to take advantage of this situation. They hadn't really been able to act as a proper couple, being surrounded by people the whole time, and he wasn't going to pass up a chance to dance with her.

As the musicians struck up a tune, they danced around in time with all the others. Rye was annoyed at all the glances Ady was attracting, but he knew she wouldn't give them the time of day. He gazed at Adalia, with all the intensity of his feelings, and he could feel her shiver.

When Rye gazed at Adalia like that, she couldn't help but be afraid, even as she felt herself responding to him. The gaze burned her as it warmed her. She didn't think it was possible to feel this intensity of feelings towards another. _Gods, I'm only sixteen. Is it possible that this is real, or is it only lust? If it is love, do I really want it to be that? I don't know about the forever kind, but I know right now, I love him. But will it stay this way? I know that I have known him for ages, but…_

Adalia hated the intensity of her thoughts. She would prefer to be light and carefree, and she hated thinking so deeply into something. She supposed that came from her crow side, which made her a natural trickster. She definitely did like Rye – a hell of a lot – but she was scared of how much she felt for him.

The dance ended and Adalia was sorely tempted to kiss Rye right there, but was held back when she blatantly realised this would fall under the definitely not section of the courtly manners rulebook. She grinning sheepishly, and tapped him on the cheek playfully. She was surprised when a man stepped up to request a dance. She sighed, but was resigned. Thayet had told her she couldn't refuse unless she had a very good reason.

Rye, extremely annoyed, grudgingly let go of Adalia and made his way over to the group of squires who were carrying trays with refreshments on them. He had not gone for the drink, but rather the conversation. "Having fun?" He drawled.

It seems that they had been caught unawares, and all six squires turned to him. After realising who it was, they turned back to watching their friend, clad in a simple violet dress, which somehow had been transformed into the most beautiful of gowns by the young woman wearing it. Kula commented dryly, "How the hell did we not see it?"

It seemed that the boys had been bursting to ask this, but thought it would sound extremely weird. Daniel said, "So this is obviously why she didn't want to wear a dress. But I can't believe it. She looks so different like that. It is so hard to remember she is the fierce Adalia, our friend, and not some air-headed court lady."

As they watched, the man that was dancing with their friend lowered his hand further down her back. Before they could do more than growl in anger, they watched her deal two precise and hard punches to his gut, and then turn on her heel, calmly making her way towards them.

"Then again…" Kaden dryly said in-between laughter.

They all laughed as the man fell to the floor, clutching his belly. No one else knew what happened to him, as Adalia had done it so that anyone not on their angle wouldn't have seen a thing. Adalia fluttered her hands at them, making her way over cheerfully. It made them laugh even more. "That was just the thing I needed to help me cheer up!" Adalia said, when she could speak to them without announcing it to half the ballroom.

"Good job, Cub." Charlie said, giving her a pat on the shoulder.

She smiled sheepishly at them; she had realised they were watching her strangely. She looked at the floor and cleared her throat to explain, but Dameon cut in, "Don't worry, Ady. Nothing changes. We don't need an explanation."

Adalia smiled genuinely at them, and then said apologetically, "Hmm. You guys may want to get to serving." The squires started, and started slowly walking over to the idle bunches of nobles, forming clusters around the edge of the hall.

Adalia blatantly refused to go out on the dance floor for a while, and instead stayed talking with Rye. They were running bets on which pompous nobleman would come ask Adalia to dance next. When the number of men coming over to her increased, so she was surrounded, she looked pleadingly to Rye for help.

Rye suppressed a smile and offered his arm to her. He detected a small exasperated sigh, but she knew this was the only way to escape her admirers, so she went out and danced with Rye. It wasn't that she didn't want to dance with him; it was that she didn't particularly want to dance at all.

It was a slow dance, and Rye whispered, "Having fun?"

Adalia rolled her eyes, but gave a smile, "I didn't want to. But with your brilliant company, how could I not?"

Rye smiled and pulled her in closer. "Of course." He agreed lightly.

At the end of what would be their fourth dance, yet another nobleman approached Adalia. He was a knight, and Adalia recognised the son of one of the hardcore conservatives.

"Care to dance?" He asked arrogantly, at the same time grabbing her hands and pulling her away from Rye.

Adalia yanked her hands away from him and practically snarled at him, "No. I wouldn't actually." She turned back to Rye, but was furious when he grabbed her arms again. He pulled her to him, and snarled in her ear, "You are a slut, so that means you have to go with whoever asks, wench."

Adalia pushed her thumbnail deep into the vulnerable spot between his fingers, clinging on. He yelped in pain and tried to pull away, but her grip was like iron. She gave him an icy stare, and he actually flinched, "For your information, I am not. It's your stupid, ignorant, rigid father and his friends that concoct those stories, to explain why women can't be just as good as men." She released him, and in his haste to get away, he stumbled backwards a few steps, away from her fury.

She laughed scornfully, and spat, "Now go fourth and multiply." _(a/n: means get fked)_

She stood there; gaze steely, and watched as he practically ran out of the ballroom. She was pleased to notice a lot of the men that heard her little speech were backing away. They were looking at her, apparently shocked to see her display her prowess in a dress.

She stood rigid in anger for a few more moments, until Rye grabbed her arm and pulled her into the dance. Even so, it took her a while to become more relaxed. She just glared at the men who approached her for a dance, and they apparently got the message and walked over to ask one of the safer females to dance.

Two more dances, and Adalia approached Kula for a drink. "How is serving working for you?"

Kula sighed, but had to say, "not as bad as how dancing seems to be working out for you." Adalia gave a sharp ferocious glare at an approaching man, who turned around quickly. Kula laughed, "You seem to have perfected that art."

Adalia smiled delightedly at her friend, "Yes. Or maybe they are realising now isn't the best time to irritate me."

"Probably both." Rye said, having escaped a talk with his father.

"How the hell am I going to get away from this bloody banquet?" Adalia asked, frustrated.

Nathan said, "We get to finish serving very soon, then they let people go when they like."

"Thank the gods!" Adalia exclaimed.

Rye forced Adalia back on the dance floor, and before she had time to blink, the King was standing up, saying that everyone could now leave when they wished.

Adalia practically skipped over to the door, relieved that no one called her back in when she left. Rye escorted her back to her room. At her door, she hesitated, unsure of what to do.

Rye sucked her breath away with another blistering look, and swept her into his arms, kissing her passionately. She responded quickly, and kissed him back. Fire was running through her veins as she pulled Rye closer against her. She had no notion of how long that kiss lasted, but they jumped apart when they heard footsteps approach. Adalia waved half-heartedly at Rye, who was quickly sweeping around the corridor, out of sight.

She was attempting to take off her dress when she heard a knock on the door connecting her rooms to Kel's. She opened it a crack, and smiled innocently at her knight master.

Kel opened her mouth, but Adalia beat her to it, "Um… could you help me get out of my dress? It's impossible!"

Adalia knew that answered the question Kel was about to ask, but noticed that her knight master scanned her room. Finally released from the dress, Kel exited and Adalia slumped under her sheets, thinking about what may have happened had her knight master and husband not come home. She wasn't sure how she felt about the interruption. Part of her was relieved, the other disappointed.

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**Disclaimer**: Not TP

Well, I hope you liked. Please R&R. I have been pleasantly surprised by all the new reviewers I am getting, and I would love to thank new and old for the constant kind words I am receiving about this story!


	30. Mages

**Chapter 30: Mages**

"ADALIA!" Someone yelled.

The girl in question flinched and turned around slowly. She was on the courts, practising her swordsmanship against Daniel. She quickly disarmed him when he lunged for her, by sidestepping his swing and twisting the sword out of his hand.

The pages were practising a distance off, with Lord Padraig calling drills, but with the break in concentration, they all turned around to examine the newcomers.

Adalia was grinning sheepishly at Alanna and Neal who were approaching. She had a feeling she knew why they were coming, as they were looking exasperated. Kaden and Kula, who were duelling close by, came over to stand beside her.

When Alanna and Neal were close enough to speak without yelling, they looked at her, eyebrows raised. Alanna opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Adalia cut her off, "It's not my fault."

"Yes it is, you could just beat them without breaking them."

"But they break so curst easily." Adalia whined.

Everyone who heard and understood what they were talking about laughed.

"You have to stop doing it, Adalia. The infirmary is going to burst, not to mention the healers are getting worn out."

Adalia crossed her arms, "They could stop approaching me, I can't take them. They're so annoying… You would think they would have learnt by now."

Neal threw his arms up. He was the one in charge of the infirmary, and he was obviously annoyed, "They are betting on who you will beat up next. _Betting_."

Adalia rolled her eyes, "It's not like I started that, but now you mention it, I like it. I've earned a lot of money on betting who I will beat up."

Alanna raised both eyebrows, "They let you bet?"

Adalia smiled cheekily, "Not me personally, but there is no rule against getting other people to place my bets… or if there is, they don't realise I did it."

Neal realised that she had changed the subject, and said, "Adalia. You have to stop breaking all your admirers. The infirmary is full."

"It. Is. Not. My. Fault. They could stop coming on to me. It's disgusting." Adalia said stubbornly.

"Neal, she's right." Alanna said dryly. She turned to Adalia, "But you have to stop breaking them too badly. It took us four hours to straighten out Sir Harley's arm._ Four_."

Adalia smiled sheepishly, "I didn't mean to do that, he surprised me, and I had just woken up."

Her friends cringed. Adalia was much stronger when tired, because she couldn't be bothered to temper her abilities. That man wouldn't forget his lesson any time soon. You see, after the ball five days ago, multiple men have been approaching Adalia, and she had grown sick of it. Quickly. She was beating them up to deter them from trying again. It was working, but it seemed that she would have to beat up all the single men in the palace before she was left alone.

Alanna turned to Neal, "There's no point telling her off, I told you that before. Adalia, from now on, just try breaking them less, so we can fix them faster. But I don't think there will be many willing after Sir Harley this morning."

Adalia pursed her lips, but nodded. "I'll try."

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"Kel, when are we gonna go?" Adalia asked her knight master. They were lounging around the fire in her room.

Kel looked at Adalia strangely, "What do you mean, go? I am having a nice time without being on the move with the Own. I thought you were having fun. We've only been here a week."

Adalia's legs were hanging over the side of the couch, and she decided to whine, "But it has been _boring_ ever since Ma, Da and Aidan left. I want to go somewhere. I have so much energy I'm gonna scream."

Kel snorted before she could push it under her mask, and Dom laughed unashamedly. She looked at her squire, who was twitching, "They only left a few hours ago."

"I _know_ that! Now there is nothing to do."

"Calm down. We will be here until the Own is needed. There is nothing we can do about that, other than enjoy the time off." Kel rested her head back against her husband's chest.

Adalia jumped up and started pacing.

After a while, Kel was irritated enough to say, "Stop it! Why don't you go for a walk, I'll bet you will find a conservative who will fight you, or try to court you." She finished this with a grin. It was extremely funny watching her squire beat up men who were a head taller than her.

Adalia let out a strangled sound, "You know, usually that would be a great idea, but the bloody problem is they won't do it anymore!"

Kel's head snapped around to look at Adalia in confusion, "Since when do conservatives stop saying women aren't fit to be warriors?"

Adalia laughed sourly, "Beats me. Apparently they have all decided that woman don't want to train just so they can find a marriage, because I have been attacking all men who try to come on to me… and sending them to the infirmary. The men still look at me – which is creepy, I'll tell you – but ever since that Harley dude, none of them have attacked. I lost three silver nobles because they stopped! The conservatives actually compliment my skills in battle, and it seems no one is game enough to claim I have slept with them, because all the other guys would attack him! Gods this is weird. Apparently my reputation has been cleared."

By the end of Adalia's irritated spiel, Kel and Dom were sitting up straight, eyes wide. Kel stuttered, "They've stopped?"

Adalia rolled her eyes, "Yes, and it's at a damn bad time."

Kel blinked, "They. Have. Stopped."

Adalia sighed in exasperation, "That _is_ what I said. Usually you don't repeat simple ideas… I think you're coming down with something."

Kel jumped up, whooping in delight, "Adalia, have you any idea what this means? They've stopped! That's never happened! It would seem as though they have accepted women into the warrior class! FINALLY!"

Adalia allowed herself a grin, _I hope you say thankyou, Goddess._ But then returned to her current problem, "But there is nothing to do!"

Kel laughed, "You have managed the impossible – getting conservatives to accept women knights – and yet all you can think about is being bored?"

Adalia sighed, "Yes, how horrible. I will give myself a pat on the back when I have something to do, though, if it's all the same to you."

Kel rolled her eyes, although she could not wipe the grin off her face. Adalia put her hands on her chin and stared into the fire. Kel said teasingly, "What about you go find Rye?"

Adalia stayed in exactly the same position, "Usually, I would agree with you, but at the moment he is with his father meeting one of the only other black robe mages. That's boring mage stuff."

Kel rolled her eyes, "So boring mage stuff isn't better than sitting by the fire and annoying us?"

Adalia smiled wickedly, "Nope, not even close."

Kel and looked pointedly at the door. Adalia sighed but jumped out of the chair and run out the door, closing it behind her.

She decided that maybe boring mage stuff would be better than sitting around, especially since she was kicked out of the room. _Anyway, I don't know where they are, so it will be fun finding them_. Adalia thought brightly.

Abandoning her boredom, she raced down the corridors. She was pleasantly surprised to see Daine walking into the Rider's mess, and caught up to her, "Hello! Daine, could you tell me where Rye is?"

Daine smiled and said, "He and Numair were meeting the mage, Justin Grenike, in the magic classroom, but I think they have gone to lunch in the noblemen's mess."

"Thanks" Adalia smiled and waved as she trooped off. _Damn. I can't go to the men's mess. Oh well, I guess I'll go for lunch with my friends… if any are left here._

Adalia entered the mess and grabbed a plate of food. Turning to inspect the squire's table, she was disappointed to see that none of her friends were there. She knew that Alanna left with Kula for Pirate's Swoop the hour after her parents left, and that Raoul was surprisingly found missing as soon as possible after the ball in which she had to wear a dress, anxious to avoid further banquets. Daniel and Nathan had to return to the border two days ago, with their knight masters Merric and Owen. She didn't know if her year mates, Kaden and Dameon, were still in the palace.

She made her way to the table, but one glance at the page's table had her shocked. She instantly made her way over to see this up close. Amongst the boys, there were a total of three girls sitting down, nervously talking with each other. She knew that the year for pages had started, but had no idea that more girls had signed up.

As she approached, one of the girls spotted her and hit another next to her in the ribs to grab her attention. The third was told and they all gazed up at her in awe. Adalia smiled reassuringly and said, "Hello! My name is Adalia of Pirate's Swoop. It is very nice to meet you."

They smiled. A vaguely familiar girl with brown hair and blue-green eyes smiled and offered her hand, "My name is Danielle of Masbolle. It's nice to see you again, Adalia, mum's been telling me all about what you have been doing since you finished your page years. I couldn't wait till I got my go."

Adalia almost hit herself. _Of course! That's why I remember her!_ A few months ago, Adalia had met Danny, as she liked to be called, when Kel had gone to Masbolle for a break.

She turned to the other two girls. A bold redhead with clear blue eyes smiled into Adalia's eyes as she shook her hand, "Pleased to meet you, Adalia. My dad has told me a lot about you, apparently you made quite an impression. I am very thankful to you, other wise I would never have been able to come here."

Adalia looked confused, and the girl continued, "I am Caitlyn of Clearwater." Realisation again came to her. She must one of the daughters of Lord Clearwater, the conservative. _Apparently I made an impression after all._ She thought with amusement.

She turned to the last girl, who offered her hand and said shyly, "My name is Jessica of Arrowpoint." The girl was small framed, with midnight blue eyes and contrasting dark blond hair.

"You mind if I sit with you? It would seem as though none of my friends are at the palace."

The three smiled and made a space for her. Adalia used jokes to get them all talking, and her presence with the girls drew the now fourth and third years that had known her during her page years. By the end of the meal, Adalia was certain that the girls were on their way to good page years, with friends of both genders. _It's good that I can do something to help them_. She thought with satisfaction.

When she finished her meal, she put her tray away and made to leave the hall. Before she could, however, Lord Padraig approached her.

The pages watched the conversation with interest. It looked like their formidable training master was asking – _asking_ – the squire for something. She seemed determined to not do it. They were shocked that she would stand up to him, and it sent them into giggles seeing that she obviously wanted to hit him. And he knew it, and moved back a little, repeating his question. This time she scowled at him, and then shrugged and followed him to the front of the room. The pages quickly stood up and formed a line in front of him.

He cleared his throat, "Pages. This is the first week back from the holidays, or the first week of the first year's training. We only have one Shang currently at the palace, so for as long as she is here, Squire Adalia has volunteered to help us. I think you could all learn a lot from her, so be sure to followed every instruction she gives, as if it were my own."

Throughout this speech, Adalia was standing behind him with crossed arms. She glared at him when he said she 'volunteered' to help, and promised herself that he was going to fall victim to a nasty prank very soon. _I should be looking for Rye. Wait a second, this may actually be fun! It isn't boring mage stuff. Hmm. I like the sound of that. _

Adalia followed the grim pages and their grisly training master out of the mess to the training courts, in slightly better spirits.

She grinned playfully at Flick and went to stand next to the Shang. The Shang sighed and shot a glance at Lord Padraig, which Adalia noticed. "I won't be _that_ bad."

The corner of Flick's mouth curled, even though she wanted to look formidable to the new pages, and whispered back, "Then just how bad will you be, Adalia?"

Adalia grinned good-naturedly but didn't answer. Flick had Adalia look after the first years as she went to take over the older pages. As Adalia taught the pages how to fall, she couldn't help but getting frustrated. It wasn't her job to train people; it was her job as a squire to be trained. Surely this wasn't normally allowed. Something Flick had said came to Adalia, 'You are just as good as any Shang.' _Great, so because they have no extra Shang's lying around, they decide to use the next best thing, the only one that can't refuse and run away._ _At least Lord Padraig the Gasbag acknowledges that I am good enough._

At the end of the lesson Adalia was feeling slightly more optimistic about her stint as a training master. It was fun teaching the pages that would one day be knights. Even better was that she was able to teach the girls for a while. Lord Padraig led to the pages over to the staffs, which signalled that Adalia's task was done.

Flick approached her and said, "They did well. I think you are a natural teacher."

Adalia's face contorted in mock horror and she clapped her hands over her ears, "Do not ever mention that again."

Flick laughed at Adalia's theatrics, but then became more serious, "I was thinking of giving the girls a leg up; take them in the mornings to train them, like I did you."

Adalia watched the three retreating backs thoughtfully, "Good idea. But they are in for hell."

Flick grinned wolfishly, "Don't you know it. I have been missing having someone to torment."

Adalia's eyes widened and as pointed an accusatory finger at Flick, "I knew it! I _knew_ it! You _were_ trying to kill me!"

Flick cracked up laughing, but Adalia kept her face sombre. Once finished laughing, Flick clapped her on the back, "aww, it's not that bad, _Ady_. Think of it this way. If I was trying to kill you, you'd already be dead."

Adalia's voice was dry as she said, "Such a consolation… Oh no, the nickname spreads! I am going to kill Rye when I find him… or Shard. Hmmm. I don't know if it's possible to kill a darking… should be interesting to find out." She added lightly.

She walked off, leaving Flick to wonder if she should go and warn Rye.

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Adalia was surprised to see Rye walking towards the forest with Numair and a small man she guessed was the black robe mage Justin Grenike. The man seemed to be almost the complete opposite of Numair. Where Numair was extremely tall and gangly, this man was shorter than her, and round. He lacked hair, except for a short blond beard. He looked to be in his forties.

Adalia had not been expecting to see him, as she was really just making her way back into the palace. She got a shock when Rye turned around and beckoned to her, as if he had known she was there the whole time, or they had arranged to meet up here. Adalia sighed. It was almost impossible to dig up his humour when he was acting all magey.

Numair greeted her and introduced her to Justin. Then he moved on to why they were near the forest, "We are going to have a magical duel, so you stand with Rye a fair way off. He is going to be our monitor." Adalia was confused by the excitement in Numair's voice. Why would he want to duel this mage when there was a risk of death? She smiled ironically at that thought. This was no different than her sparring with an opponent to him; he wanted to see who was better, how he could improve, or gauge the skill level of his opponent.

Rye grabbed her hand a pulled her to be standing beside him a distance away. Adalia looked at him with an eyebrow raised, "So, are you going to tell me anything about this mage Justin?"

An annoyed look flitted over his face, to be replaced with a sheepish smile, and he turned to look her in the eyes, "Oh. Sorry, I forgot you haven't been with us… Let's see. He comes from Maren, but got out to study at the City of the Gods. That's how dad knows him. That's about it, except that he gained his black robe a few months ago, and decided to come visiting."

Adalia rolled her eyes when he quickly turned his gaze back to the two men. _Obviously in mage mode._

She sat down on the ground rather than stand up to watch what seemed would be a long fight. She saw both men set up barriers to protect their surroundings, as well as keep any noise from the battle from reaching the palace.

Then she felt something that made her shiver. She could feel the power radiating off both men, and even though she knew none of it would affect her, because of the barrier and her crow side, it scared her.

The air around Numair was tinged black, and the air around Justin was tinged a dirty yellow. The clouds above pulsated and a black lightning bolt split the sky, aiming for Justin. He seemed to stop it with a yellow shield that appeared out of thin air. The shield slammed down towards Numair, but all of a sudden, it was gone.

The battle raged, forcing the mages to do more complicated battle magic. Justin sent a hurricane at Numair, who turned it into thread, which tried to secure Justin's arms. The mage cut it and turned it into a snake, which slithered for Numair, but suddenly it was a harmless log and a black orb, that was radiating power, was behind Justin.

The orb engulfed the man, who sent shocks of yellow lightning out, which only bounced around the inside. Justin caught the bolt and it disappeared. Suddenly grass was winding up Numair's legs, and the mage was forced to fight the yellow magic to stop it from capturing him.

Adalia pulled her legs up and wrapped her hands around them. _Gods, I really wish I didn't have to be here._

Numair had successfully broken out of the grass, and walked towards Justin. The other mage had broken out of the ball, only to discover that his hands and feet were bound. Numair walked up and touched Justin on the chest, where his heart would be.

"That signals the end. Da won." Rye whispered in her ear.

Adalia was shocked. She had been so consumed in watching the display of power; she hadn't noticed that Rye was sitting next to her, one arm thrown comfortingly over her shoulder.

After taking stock of his position, she smiled gratefully at him, and by way of explaining said, "That was scary."

He nodded and looked her in the eyes seriously. "It was. Come on, we could do with dinner."

Adalia's brows snapped together in confusion, but he indicated the sky. Some time between the start of the fight and now, it had turned dark. It was indeed dinnertime. Adalia shook her head to clear it, took one last glance at the mage Justin, who looked awfully angry, and walked off towards the mess with Rye.

Since Rye wasn't technically allowed in the squire's mess, they went to the Rider's mess hall. Even though Adalia wasn't really supposed to be there, there was always extra food and they welcomed the odd visitor.

After Adalia finished eating, she was feeling much better. She had told Rye about how she had been roped into training the pages, "I just hope Kel gets called away soon."

Rye smiled, "I don't know. If you get called away, I won't be able to see you, and I'll miss you." He pouted.

Adalia burst into laughter. Rye looked hurt, and she couldn't tell if it was acting or real. She wiped some tears of mirth out of her eyes and sobered. She then asked teasingly, "Really. And why would that be, my most noble mage?"

His expression turned deadly serious and he grabbed Adalia and said softly, "Because I… I love you, Adalia."

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He he he. I know I am being the most evil author on the planet, but I am leaving this as a cliffy. Who knows how Adalia will take this? I'd love the viewer's input. (Rubs hands in anticipation)


	31. Patience is Rewarded

**Chapter 31: Patience is Rewarded**

… "_If you get called away, I won't be able to see you, and I'll miss you." Rye pouted. _

_Adalia burst into laughter. Rye looked hurt, and she couldn't tell if it was acting or real. She wiped some tears of mirth out of her eyes and sobered. She then asked teasingly, "Really. And why would that be, my most noble mage?"_

His expression turned deadly serious and he grabbed Adalia and said softly, "Because I… I love you, Adalia."

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Adalia blinked in astonishment. Then the consequences of those words crashed into her, and the air was sucked from her lungs. She pulled her hand out of Rye's, stood up slowly, and as if in a trance, ran away.

She didn't notice Rye kick his chair out of the way in his haste to follow her, she just ran.

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Rye found Adalia in the stables, pacing up and down in front of her horse's stalls. She looked agitated now that the shock from his statement had worn off. "Adalia…"

Adalia froze in her pacing. She put her face in her hands as Rye approached her like he would a frightened horse.

"Adalia." Rye said again, firmly.

Adalia took a big breath and forced herself to look him in the eyes. His face was set with determination. The next thing he said was so quiet that she nearly missed it, "Do you not feel the same way? If you don't, tell me now, and we can go back to how we were before…" His face flashed with sorrow, but he held her eyes.

Adalia broke the eye contact and started pacing again. She was trying to find the right words, but they weren't coming. _Damn and Heck! I'll just have to say something…_

Adalia let out a strangled sound and continued pacing. In a slightly angry voice, she said, "No. I.… I love you too, Rye… it's just…"

She chanced a quick glance at Rye, and the beginnings of a smile were playing on his lips. She had to force herself to continue. "…That isn't the problem. The problem is… we've never really _talked_ about what we were doing. Never. I don't want to be caged up by this…whatever _this_ is. I don't want to stop being a squire, or have to give up my shield… It's just, I don't know. I like to be able to do what I want, and I don't know if I'd be able to do that if we were properly together. I can't make that kind of commitment."

Suddenly she stopped pacing, and collapsed on the ground, leaning against a stall door. She felt limp with the release of words, but tension was curling in her gut. She hoped he would understand.

She was shocked to hear soft chuckling and almost flinched when she felt a hand under her chin. His touch was soft, so Adalia raised her eyes to meet his.

Rye's tone was teasing as he said, "Ady, you can be so silly sometimes."

She glared at him, and he laughed. He seemed elated, and she couldn't understand it.

"Ady, we can make this work. I have no intension of making you do anything you don't want to. And about us, all I know is that I want to be with you, and only you. I understand that you don't want to be pinned down, and I accept that. I just ask that we can be together."

Warmth flooded into Adalia through Rye's fingertips. She couldn't help but say, "We were together before…"

Rye shook his head, "Like you said, we didn't say what it was that we were doing. I want you to know that I _love_ you."

His eyes were darkening and Adalia could sense the love and desire in his gaze. He caught her gaze and she realised he was moving closer. She lightly pushed him back, still unsure.

"I don't know…" she whispered, even though her instincts were screaming for her to go unresisting into his arms, his kiss, his love.

Rye kept his hands around her, determined not to let go. He opened his mouth to reassure her, but was cut off by a derisive snort from a nearby stall.

Adalia and Rye snapped around to look at Anika, who was watching them, ears cocked forward. A light voice reached both of them, 'Silly crow. Love now, because you may not be able to love later. You can still fly, nothing can take your wings.'

Adalia raised her eyebrows at the mare, who just whinnied. Even if she didn't want to admit it, horse logic seemed very convincing right about now.

Rye pulled her closer, and she instinctively wrapped her arms around him. He was grinning widely, and whispered, "I knew there was a reason I like your horses..." He swept Adalia into a kiss, and she could feel him smiling as she matched his intensity. There were no more reasons to resist.

Long moments later, they broke apart, and Adalia could see Rye grinning like a fool. She felt that she was probably doing the same. She caught his gaze, and said softly, "I love you too, Rye."

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(Meanwhile: Kel. Not 10 minutes after Adalia exited the room.)

Insistent knocking interrupted the comfortable silence which Kel and Dom had been enjoying after the ever original Adalia had exited the room.

Kel and Dom shared exasperated looks. Dom whispered, "I wonder who it is now?"

Kel yelled, "It's open!"

She couldn't be bothered to extricate herself from Dom's hold, and glanced lazily at the Royal messenger who had entered.

"I have a message for Commander Domitan of Masbolle and Lady Knight Keladry of Mindelan and Masbolle …"

Kel sighed and felt Dom's arms tighten around her. The messenger allowed himself an apologetic tone when he said, "The King orders you to join Third Company of the King's Own in the pursuit of an elusive band of raiders that have emerged near the Scanran Boarder."

Kel scowled at the messenger, who threw up his hands as if to prove his innocence, "Don't shoot the messenger! The King said that he ordered you to go because you will be positioned at the township of New Hope until the threat has passed, to fortify their defences. Commander Dom will be leading the men to hunt down the raiders. They are unusually organised for dirty rotten scum, and have proved a threat to other townships closer to the border. There is a chance that nothing will happen, he just wanted to make sure the villagers would be ok."

Kel turned white and stood up immediately, as did Dom. She was about to walk out to the stables to saddle Peachblossom when the messenger shouted that he wasn't finished yet. "He says to depart tomorrow, as he is organising extra supplies for the soldiers so they do not clean out the town." And with that, the man turned and practically ran out of the room.

Kel scowled after his retreating back, "I don't want to wait. What if something happens?"

Dom rubbed her shoulders comfortingly and said, "it won't, don't worry. New Hope is fortified and even if they were under siege will be able to hold out until we get there. You didn't leave them defenceless, and they are fighters. The messenger himself said nothing is likely to happen. The King probably sent you because he knew there was a chance you would go of your own volition if rumours of the threat reached you."

Kel allowed herself to grin sheepishly. He was referring to the time she had heard of a threat to New Hope a few years ago and told the King that she was going. He had no chance to argue, not that he would have dared just about then.

Dom said, "I'll go down and inform the men that we are going. You could always go inform Adalia that you have a mission."

"I'll come with you for the moment. I'll find Adalia after lunch. We can't have the men dawdling." She grinned wolfishly and Dom laughed and slung his arm around her shoulders, and the two of them went down to the Own's barracks.

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After lunch the Lady Knight exited the mess hall with the intension of finding her errant squire. _At least I can tell her we have something to do. I bet she'll be happy after what she said this morning…_

No matter where she looked, she couldn't find Adalia. The girl wasn't on the practise courts, although there was a long line of pages practising the staff. Kel decided to ask Flick, who was watching them, if she had seen Adalia, or knew where she was.

She approached the Shang, and waited patiently while she corrected the grip of one of the pages. Once Flick had finished, Kel tapped her on the shoulder. The Shang looked up distractedly, but smiled as she saw Kel.

Kel got straight to the point, "Have you seen Adalia? I've been looking for her since lunch, but haven't found her. I thought that she might be training here, but obviously not."

Flick grinned slightly, "Yes, but you've just missed her. Lord Padraig roped her into helping me train the pages. I've got to say, she did a good job of it, even if it was obvious she didn't want to be here. Why are you looking for her?"

Kel was disappointed, but didn't let it show on her face. She said, "We have a new mission from the King, and I need to get her to help me with organising the Own so we can leave on time tomorrow. Where did she go?"

Flick snapped her fingers in disappointment, "Damn. That means she won't be able to help me train the pages. Oh well. She didn't say where she was going, but she headed in the direction of the forest. I think she was headed towards the jousting field or maybe her rooms."

Kel thanked her and went to check those two places. She had no luck in finding her errant squire, however, and the sky was darkening quickly, much to her dismay. _I hope Dom doesn't mind doing a lot of organising himself…_ Kel thought, not in the least bit saddened by missing helping with all the last minute paperwork. Dom would probably just enlist Raoul to help him.

Kel, disheartened, went to have dinner in the mess. She asked around if anyone had seen Adalia, and, as luck would have it, Numair said rather tiredly that he had.

Kel's eyes snapped to the exhausted mage, who was slumped over his meal, and said, "Where?"

Numair looked at her distractedly and said, "She watched my duel with Justin Grenike. She went off with Rye afterwards. I think I heard something about dinner…"

Kel shook her head, smiling slightly. _Obviously that was why I couldn't find her, she must have been inside whatever spells they were using to protect the area around their duel._

Daine leaned around her exhausted husband to smile at Kel, "I saw them enter the Rider's mess as I was coming over here… you could check there."

Kel quickly finished her meal and thanked Numair and Daine for their help. _Finally I have a good lead! Maybe now I'll be able to find her._

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A few minutes later, Kel was approaching the mess, hoping that Adalia was still there. She poked her head in and took in the rows of Rider's eating and joking over hot plates of food. Scanning the people for a face she knew, she was tempted to swear and stomp away. A very familiar face caught her eye and waved her over to a nearby table.

"Kel! It's great to see you! What brings you to the Rider's mess?" It was a handsome young man, with blue eyes and blond hair. She smiled and clapped him on the back, taking a seat next to him.

"Tobe, it's great to see you. I hear you were promoted to sergeant."

He grinned, "Yup. Now, what are you here for?"

Kel sighed, "I was looking for my squire, I heard she was here, but it seems as though she has disappeared _again_."

Tobe laughed. Adalia was infamous for not staying in the same place for long, and many a time Kel would be forced to go looking for her. "Actually, you just missed her –"

Kel raised her hands in annoyance, "You have _no_ idea how many times I have heard those words!"

Tobe's grin just grew wider and he said, "She ran out a few minutes ago."

"_Ran_ out…?"

Tobe shrugged, "She was talking to Rye and then ran. He followed her, though."

Kel sighed. "You wouldn't happen to know where she went?"

Tobe looked thoughtful, and then got the distracted expression he always did while he was conversing with the horses. A few seconds later his eyebrows rose, and then he looked straight at Kel, "She's in the stables, in front of Anika and Sora's stalls…"

"Great, thanks." Kel jumped up and ran out of the mess, towards the stables, obviously determined not to miss her again.

Tobe chuckled, and finished his sentence, even though she wouldn't hear him, "…but I don't think she wants to be found right about now…"

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Kel charged into the stables minutes later to be greeted by an unexpected sight. She stood silently in the doorway, shocked. She had finally found her squire…and she was in a very compromising position. Kel stood silent for a few seconds as she took in the sight of Adalia with her hands wound tightly in Rye's brown hair, his hands around her waist, their lips locked in a passionate kiss.

After she had got over the initial shock, Kel said loudly, "Ahem."

The two sprang apart and turned to look at Kel, embarrassment and shock etched on both faces.

Kel was careful to keep her face devoid of expression as she said, "Adalia, we have a mission tomorrow and I need you to come with me."

Adalia smiled brightly and turned to Rye, saying lightly, "Well, see ya!"

Rye was unable to hide his embarrassment as Adalia had done, and his face was red as he murmured a goodbye and practically ran away.

Adalia looked after him and when she turned to Kel her expression was annoyed, "You just _had_ to come at this moment, didn't you?"

Kel raised an eyebrow, "You are annoyed."

"Good guess, Captain Obvious. Do we _have_ to go tomorrow?" Adalia whined.

Kel snorted, "Are you the same person that was saying how bored you were this morning? And anyway, I think _I_ am the one who gets to be annoyed when I walk in on my squire pashing someone." She pointed out.

"Of course I am the same person, it's just that suddenly the palace has become much more interesting. About you being angry with me; you didn't seem at all inclined to yell at me, so I decided I would be the one lecturing. Oh, and I bet that knight masters have been walking in on their squire's pashing someone for centuries, and it's only because I happen to be female that anyone cares. Does that answer your questions? Oh, and Rye isn't just some random guy."

Kel rubbed her temples. Somehow, most conversations with Adalia ended up like this. "Well, too bad. We are travelling tomorrow with the Own to New Hope, to boost their defences while Third Company cleans out a dangerous group of bandits that have been attacking towns near the Scanran border. Since you are my squire, you have to come as well. And you didn't give me a chance to lecture you. Be quiet and come help me prepare the supplies."

Kel's usually ample temper was close to breaking point, and Adalia decided not to test how far she could push the knight, sensing that it wouldn't be a good result for her. So, instead of arguing pointlessly, she followed silently in Kel's wake.

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Lol. I hope that people liked it, cos I sure had fun writing this.

Some smart cookies may have figured out that the title of this chapter doesn't match anything in the story. That is because I decided to make it out to all you lovely readers that waited oh so patiently for this chapter: )

Please Rate and Review, and I hope that no one is disappointed.


	32. New Crisis

**Chapter 32: New Crisis**

After a week on the road, the Lady Knight Keladry of Mindelan and her squire, Adalia of Pirate's Swoop, were fast approaching the town of New Hope.

Kel and Adalia had split off from Third Company two days ago, with one squad that was under Kel's command for the duration of their time at New Hope.

Adalia was observing Kel take out her spyglass and sweep the area, focusing on something in the distance. She was talking to Sora, who was excited to be going somewhere they hadn't been before.

All persons in the party were eager to get off the road and wash off the layers of dirt that they had accumulated since their departure from Corus. Adalia flicked hair out of her eyes and attempted to win a bet. "Are we there yet?" She whined to her knight master.

She saw Kel tense and clench her jaw, but the knight said nothing. Adalia had been suspicious that Kel knew of the bet she had going on with the soldiers – that she wouldn't be able to annoy Kel so that she lost her temper – and it seemed as though she was keeping her temper to make sure Adalia lost. It wasn't fair. Adalia would bet one of the soldiers saw fit to inform Kel because they knew she would want to make sure she lost. At least it was fun taunting Kel without any unsightly backlash. It was almost worth the five silver nobles for that joy. _Ok, maybe it was worth it. _Especially since Adalia had a sneaking suspicion that Kel was imagining strangling her.

Adalia was trying to think of another way to annoy Kel when the party rounded a corner and came into view of a fortified village. The main settlement was astonishingly raised forty feet above the rest of the ground, and was surrounded by a large wall covered in countless battle flags and shields. In the area around the centre of the village were farms and houses, which were protected by a smaller outer wall that surrounded all the houses, also decorated with battle flags from what looked like Scanran origins. As they approached the outer wall, a trumpet call rang out. The guardsmen had noticed the squad, and were being cautious.

Kel nodded to Caleb, who trumpeted the call for friend. The gates swung open, and Adalia was surprised to see that there was a welcoming committee. No doubt they had been informed of the Protector of the Small's impending arrival.

Steve poked Adalia in the middle of her back. She turned her head to glare at the men following her, but they wouldn't look away. They held out their hands, and Adalia sighed and fished into her belt purse, taking out their winnings. She placed the coins in their hands and then turned back to be inspecting the faces lingering at the gates. _It was fun while it lasted…_

Accepting her disappointment, Adalia followed Kel's lead and dismounted from Sora. An old woman approached with a raised eyebrow. "Lady Kel. I thought we had weaned this mothering out of you by now."

Kel grinned genuinely, "Headwoman Fanche! You know, the funny thing about that is that the King placed me here, so I'm stuck here until the Third take out the bandits."

The two women shook hands and Fanche turned to Adalia, "Hello squire." She smiled slightly as she scrutinised Adalia, and then gestured to a young man, "Kalum will show you to the bathhouses and then the barracks."

Adalia followed Kel in a different direction to the woman's bathhouse, all the while attempting to take in every detail of the sprawling town. People all over were waving cheerfully to Kel, even stopping in the street for a short chat. Kel didn't get annoyed with any of them, even though she was travel weary.

.xXXx.

It had been three weeks since they arrived and nothing had occurred that warranted Kel's commanding skills.

It was extremely early in the morning, and Adalia was trailing behind Kel. Kel had forced Adalia to help her give lessons to the children who wanted to learn the staff – it was one of her ways to get back at Adalia for being aggravating on the ride to New Hope.

"This is good isn't it, Adalia?" Kel asked brightly.

Adalia groaned, "Shut up."

Kel smiled and continued, "Yes, all this fresh air is brilliant."

"Shut up."

Kel chuckled, "I don't know why you would rather be in bed. Who would want to miss the time where lots of people are asleep? The streets are empty and there is room to breathe."

"Shut up."

Kel shook her head, still grinning, "Really, you should be more happy about waking up early. You have been doing it for at least five years. Training the children is fun to do, not to mention it gives you a chance to go back over the basics…"

Adalia groaned and glared at Kel, saying angrily, "_Why_ won't you shut up!?"

Kel was going to respond pleasantly, but a trumpet sounded from the outer gate. There were people approaching New Hope. Kel shared a look with Adalia, who was suddenly wide-awake, and they took off running towards the gate. They were a fair way away, being on the raised ground, which was the centre of town. Kel bit her lip, "Adalia, could you call Hoshi and Anika to us? We could ride them bare back."

Adalia nodded, and at that moment an answering call came out, trumpeting friend. The two kept running; it could always be a trap. A few minutes later Hoshi and Anika came cantering around the corner, having jumped the paddock fence.

A short time later, Kel and Adalia were at the gate, which was being opened. They were both shocked to see most of Third Company, with Dom and Numair at the lead. Only Dom and Numair rode in, and went straight to Kel.

Adalia saw a pale Numair and immediately felt that something was wrong. Before either could say anything, Kel said, "Dom, what's happening? Did you get the bandits? Numair, why are you here? We haven't had any news at all."

Dom looked grim, "We got them two weeks ago, a week after you left our party. That hasn't been the problem… hmmm. You've really had no news?" He seemed nervous.

Kel shook her head. Adalia had the distinct feeling that something really bad had happened. "No, Dom. I just told you. We've had no news for the entire three weeks."

Dom looked pointedly at Numair. He cleared his throat and said miserably, "I'm here because Rye was kidnapped."

Kel and Adalia's eyes widened. Adalia went white, "What!? He is a damn mage! How the hell can he get taken?"

Numair's hand went through his rumpled hair, "I know… Adalia, do you remember the black robe mage I had a duel with; Justin Grenike?"

Adalia nodded mutely, horror rising.

"He was extremely mad that I won… I just didn't know _how_ mad until a few days afterwards. We had always had a rivalry, but it wasn't unfriendly… obviously it was, but…"

"Get to the point Numair." Dom said.

Numair sighed, "He kidnapped Rye. The thing is, he's demanding I give him my magic, and then he'll give Rye back."

"But you can't do that! He could take over all of Tortall with both your magic combined!" Kel cut in.

Numair nodded minutely, "I know that. That's why we are going to take him on. The problem is that he has hired a guard and has mages with him, backing him up. I've had a look at the place, it is an abandoned house, but it has every kind of protection on it. There is no way we are getting in there. With all those mages hanging around, by the time I break one section of its defences, they will have created more to back it up." He was miserable.

Dom said, "Third Company is going to attempt take out the guard, which is at least forty strong; they have set up camps protecting the house from different directions. The King wants Kel to Command one side of the assault."

"So, if we aren't giving Numair's power over, how are we going to rescue Rye?" Kel asked.

Numair looked at Adalia, "There is only one person who could get through the magic defences without getting killed."

Adalia knew exactly what he was getting at. Violet eyes glinted with determination and fury; "I'll get Rye back. I know I can. While I'm at it I'll show Justin what happens when he messes with Tortall."

Numair looked relieved, "Thankyou. I told Jon you would do it."

Adalia nodded, her face set with determination. "I'll save Rye."

.xXXx.

Well, that's the end. Sorry it's such a short chapter. I also label it the worst. I had (still have) the most horrible writer's block ever – I think my brain has gone on holiday – so I am extremely sorry about how crap this chapter is. It luckily managed to get the main point across – crazy mage has kidnapped Rye because he wants to take over Tortall (or be the most powerful mage in the world), quite possibly both.

Seriously, it was either post this crap or throw my laptop out the window and abandon the story. So there we go. The good/bad thing is this story is getting closer to being finished! I swear the next chapter will be a million times better than this. Writer's block sucks. Don't attack me.


	33. Rash Decisions

**Chapter 33: Rash Decisions**

Third Company of the King's Own had stopped after hours upon hours of riding. They were still at least three days from their destination and soldiers and commanders alike were next to silent. There was a grim mood hanging over the warriors, making them all feel tense and apprehensive for the battle they rode out to face. The gaps between trees were continuingly getting smaller as they rode nearer the Grimhold Mountains. The black robe mage was secured in a safe house which was hidden somewhere between those looming trees, not to mention all the Maren soldiers that were waiting to attack them. Justin Grenike had set up the best defence possible, in order to secure Numair Salmalìn's Gift.

Kel was sitting next to Dom, eating dinner. There was an unnatural silence to the men; she had never known them to be quiet, even when travelling into battle…_especially_ when going into battle. She scanned the dark clearing and recognised the faces of the men. Two faces that were not present were painfully obvious to her. Numair and Adalia.

Numair's face had remained the pale white that it had been when she had greeted him at the gate of New Hope. He had said nothing, although he had been using magic all day to clear the road. She noticed that he had been using it for relatively small things, as well as large. It was obvious that he was trying to make them go as fast as possible. Kel could see the pain it was giving him to have to attack instead of simply giving up his Gift. It meant that there was a very high chance of Rye being killed. Kel also knew what they had promised not to tell Adalia; Rye was being tortured. It made them all go at a hard pace and only stop when their mounts had been about to collapse. Kel bit her lip. She hated having to stop, but she had the sense to know it was necessary.

Kel glanced towards the pale form of Adalia. She had been pacing up and down ever since they had stopped, and adamantly refused food. Kel understood what she was going through; she couldn't imagine what she would be like if Dom was kidnapped, but she wished she would act a little bit more like herself. Usually, her presence made everyone more at ease, happier somehow. You couldn't help but be drawn into it. Now, it seemed like her own worry and fear for Rye was creeping into the soldiers; creating the grave atmosphere and enhancing everyone's need to keep moving. Kel wished she could force Adalia to rest, but past experience proved that Adalia was too stubborn.

Kel wished that she knew what Adalia was thinking. Then she may be able to help.

.xXx.

Adalia was pacing in an attempt to diffuse some of her worry for Rye. She was nervous and irritable and frustrated. _We're going too slow! Rye is in danger and all they can think about is eating and sleeping. What is happening to Rye? Why won't they tell me anything?_

Adalia couldn't bring herself to stop, even when more and more of the men retired to their tents. She noticed that Numair hadn't moved either. Rubbing her head, she was just about to go over and talk to him when she spotted Kel and Dom giving him a meaningful gaze, indicating that he should follow them. Adalia's brows snapped together, although she turned on the spot, continuing to pace. _Now I can learn something._

Adalia waited until they had gathered in a small clearing away from the tents. She recognised the other sergeants of Third Company that were there as well. Adalia silently climbed a tree to get a good vantage point of the meeting. Making her breathing soft, she watched carefully.

Kel looked at Numair and nodded.

He seemed to tense as he pointed at a few branches that had been piled in the middle. Dom patted him on the back, and then said, "We need to know how he's doing."

Numair nodded and Adalia could see the anger, frustration and apprehension in his body language and eyes. She knew he felt worse than she, as Justin had only taken Rye to get to him. He waved a hand at the fire and what Adalia saw next turned her blood to ice.

.xXx.

_Rye was slumped against a stonewall, and it was possible to see deep red blood oozing sluggishly from an open wound on his arm, under a ripped tunic. It looked like he hand been burned in numerous places._

_A large arm grabbed the front of his shirt and it shoved him to the stone floor, creating a sickening sound as his head hit. His brown hair looked shades darker, and grey eyes that usually held a spark of mischief was almost totally devoid of emotion, aside from an elusive glint of defiance._

Those watching recoiled in horror as they saw his beared back.

_Remnants of his shirt stuck to the numerous injuries on his back. They were long gashes, seeming to be made by a whip. It seemed that the person who had slammed him to the ground had left him. The many wounds were covered in blood, both fresh and old. Blood covered the floor. He slipped into unconsciousness, uttering one word that was impossible to hear._

.xXx.

Suddenly the vision dissolved into embers, and Numair fell to the ground. The sergeants had seen what Rye had been going through over the past week, and the sight left them cold. They needed to get there sooner rather than later. Luckily, they were only a day away, thanks to Numair. They couldn't leave Rye for much longer, or else the torture would kill him.

Having to witness his son being tortured was killing Numair. He would kill Justin Grenike for what he had done if it was the last thing he would do.

.xXx.

None of them had been prepared for the murderous sixteen year old who dropped in on their conversation.

She started pacing and ranting. Anger was heavy on her voice, so much so that the grown men and woman stepped back. They caught phrases such as, "Why didn't you _tell_ me?" "What if he _died_?" "I should have _known_!"

After she seemed to have gotten everything off her chest, she stopped and turned to glare at them. Tears were silently streaming from her eyes. Her glare cut them. You could see the anger, and also the desperate need to go and save him. In the sudden stop, she seemed to be thinking something over.

Inspiration hit and she gazed at them and said calmly, "I'm going to get him."

This pronouncement seemed strange. The men still hadn't got over the shock of watching Adalia totally lose her composure, but Kel managed to say soothingly, "We are already going, and we'll be there later tomorrow."

Adalia shook her head, "No, I'm going now."

Numair went up and hugged her, pulling her in tightly. Tears were glistening in his eyes, "We are going."

Adalia stood stiffly in his embrace, "Numair, I'm going in. As a crow."

His eyes shot open. "We already talked about that. It won't make a difference because there's no way you would be able to get him out without us outside."

Adalia grit her teeth and ducked out from his arms, starting to pace again, "That doesn't matter. I'll find a way! I can't leave him on his own. Not when he's suffering through that."

Kel started forward, "NO! It will be all for naught if you get killed! Then you have no chance of helping him!"

Adalia narrowed her eyes and her voice cracked as she said quietly, "I can't do _nothing_."

And with that, she leaped high off the ground, changing into a crow at the height of the jump. It cawed and then swooped away, towards their destination.

Kel swore loudly. This was bad. Really bad. This was the reason they didn't tell Adalia what was happening to Rye. With this rash action, she could easily get herself and Rye killed before they got there.

Numair quietly gathered up the girl's clothes, daggers and sword that had fallen to the ground. He knew that there was a big chance she would die, but he had to hope. Hope that Adalia could rescue his son.

.xXx.

OMG! Best news, readers! My writer's block disappeared after the second paragraph! Very, very, very **bad** situation, but I can't help but being excited about that!

The reason I posted this so soon after my last was because here in Aus, the school year starts in 2 days. I am in yr 12, our last, so I don't know if I'll have time to write. I will try to post every Sunday, but I make no promises. Homework is a bugger. Anyways, lets all keep our fingers crossed that they both get out of this alive! If you want to read more about Ady and Rye, they are in Blaire Pleads Insanity, so look that up!

Peace. Skyflyte12 : )


	34. Consequences

**A/N: **OMG I found out that this story has had a staggering number of 13,272 views!!! Wowee! People, please review, I always love to hear what people have to say, even if they tell me I was/am touched in the head to be writing this – it's all good!

**Q&A: **_I got a question that I thought a lot of you guys would want answered, so here it is-_

**Q**. Rye can shape-shift too, so why hasn't he? Or is he hiding it from his captors? Or did you just forget about that?

**A. **I did not forget that Rye can shape shift; the problem is that he is too drained to do it – that's the reason he hasn't tried to escape – because of the torture as well as the fact that he is being watched around the clock.

Chapter 34: Consequences 

Just past midday was when a crow swooped down on a relatively large house that was out in the middle of nowhere. Strangely enough, although the house had an air of neglect about it, there were many people roaming around the grounds, and even more secured inside – servants and mages alike.

The atmosphere was tense, although not many knew the reason for this. The crow landed on a windowsill and played at the lock.

.xX **Adalia's POV** Xx.

Even as I flew away, I recognised the foolishness and utter stupidity of what I had just done. Aside from the fact that there would be no reinforcements to help get us both out of there in one piece, I now had no weapons or even clothes. The wind seemed to whisper to me as I cut through it, 'You are an idiot.' Gods knew I was whispering it to myself.

There was one thing that kept me flying towards Justin's stronghold. It was the only thing that I could not get out of my head. The vision of Rye had shaken me to my core, and it demanded that I go at once. Rye _must_ live. Before I had gone, he had told me that he loved me, and at that moment, a piece of my heart seemed to slide into place. Into a hole that I never knew existed, but I knew instinctively that if I lost Rye, it would disappear again, and I would never get it back. I would fight with my life to ensure that he came home with me.

I could not have said exactly how long I had been flying before I reached a remote house that was almost hidden amongst the thick trees. To me, it felt like an eternity. On the way, I had observed with dismay the sheer number of foot soldiers, and felt the strength of the mage barrier. I could only hope that they would be careful in their approach.

I did a circle of the house, and could make out people working or sitting down and eating, and I could see from the shimmer around them that most were lesser mages and helping Grenike with the barrier. Scrutinising the windows, I spotted one that was half open, and landed lightly on the sill. While playing with the window, I searched out any animals in the house, and was glad to find an accommodating cat that promised not to eat me. The cat watched as I managed to slide into the room. Now was the time to push aside my fury at the capture of Rye, and try to think up a way to rescue him. Hitting inspiration, I asked her, 'Do the two-leggers have a room which has many pointy objects?'

The cat gave me an amused nod and replied, "Yes, and I will show you to it. But you better not be spotted by the two-leggers or I will be in trouble.'

She twirled around and strode out the open doorway. I soared up to the high ceiling, hoping this was enough to avoid notice. There wasn't much more I could do. The cat led me down a dark corridor, and I thanked the gods that no one walked down it while we were passing through. She pushed into a door and I waited outside for a moment. I was frightened to hear the harsh tones of a man tell the cat to bugger off.

She run back out and curled up near the doorway. I landed softly on the rug next to her and asked softly, 'Are you ok? How many were in there?'

Her voice sounded disgruntled as she told me, 'Two. But the pointy things are in there.'

Damn and Heck. I kept my mind relentlessly blank as I considered what I was going to have to do. I steeled myself and transformed back into human, feeling instantly uncomfortable and making the mental note to knock them out hard so they would forget what they saw.

Cursing the lack of clothes, I decided that the sooner I did this, the less chance of anyone walking down the corridor. This thought, along with the vision of Rye that had risen once again in my mind, gave me the guts to yank open the door. The two men had just enough time to widen their eyes before I managed to knock them out. Hard. I all but slammed the door shut as I heard the sound of approaching footsteps, praying to any listening gods that no one would come in here, and stood still with my ear against the door. I sighed in fervent relief as the footsteps bypassed the door, and turned back to scrutinise the room.

The cat was correct in saying there were plenty of pointy things, which was very comforting. Racks of weapons along the walls were a welcome sight, but even better was a bin of clothes, which I rushed to first.

I emerged from the armoury fully dressed in a guard's uniform, but more importantly now with daggers on my person and a sword belted at my waist. They were not able to compare with my personal weapons, but at least they were sharp. The other good thing was that the cat had decided to wait outside the door.

Even as I stepped out into the hallway, I could feel a difference from when I was a crow. The building seemed darker and more ominous, and I could feel a kind of tension that seemed to linger between the walls. I couldn't suppress a sudden shudder as I bent down to stroke ginger fur softly, at the same time asking her if she had talked to a two-legger named Rye. To my delight she said, 'Yes. We can all tell he is one of the People, just as you are. But he is wounded badly, and this prevents him from escaping. We have been helping him by bringing food, but he willnot let us attack the two-leggers.'

I was surprised to feel tears in my eyes at this description of Rye, but forced them back to properly concentrate at the matter at hand, 'Can you lead me to him?'

The ginger meowed softly and padded down the hall. I gritted my teeth and followed her with all my speed, praying that even if I was spotted, they would not be able to distinguish me from the rest of the guards present in the manor.

As we approached a staircase that led down to the basements the number of guards was increasing. I pulled up short as I watched the cat scamper down the stairs, going around the guards. Thus far, I could see ways to avoid the guards, but those two would certainly notice if I came out with Rye. I drew in a deep breath and strode purposefully over to them. I had nothing planned; all I knew was that I had to get in there.

Instead of stopping and talking to the men, I made directly towards the stairs. The two glanced at me and one yelled out, "Oy, you can't go down there! Grenike's orders."

Changing my voice to make it deep, I said, "Grenike told me to check on the prisoner."

I steeled myself to meet his gaze, and to my intense surprise I turned just in time to see a fist come flying at my face. I reacted instinctively and caught his fist, mere inches from my nose. There was time enough to register his shock when something large and hard barrelled into my chest. I doubled over in pain, using my free hand to clutch my stomach. Forcing the pain aside, I took in a great sobbing breath and reached out to grab the second guard's hair. When I straightened, I felt a sickening pain searing through my chest. This led me to believe a rib was broken.

I forced myself to straighten although I could not banish the hot pain in my chest. I tightened my hold on the men, changing my grip of the first man to his hair rather than fist. I yanked viciously at them so their heads were below mine and glared into their eyes. It was with immense satisfaction that I felt them shiver as they looked into my violet eyes. I all but growled, "Now why would you do that?"

It was with grim satisfaction that I saw them close their mouths. In the next second, I propelled their foreheads together, creating a sickening crunch.

"Why?" I growled again shaking them at the same time, and one of them spoke up.

"There is a code that we use to say we are going to check on the prisoner, so that we can identify intruders. I didn't know why the mage was so pedantic about security, as no one was supposed to be able to get through the gods curst barrier, but I guess you answer my question." He said bitterly. "I was here just to get paid. No one said we would be under attack."

I snorted, filled with contempt for someone who would be willing to do this for money. Since I had gotten my answer, I said harshly, "Well boys, I think you should learn not to believe what other people tell you." And with that, I crashed their heads together, effectively knocking them out. I will admit right now that the broken rib vexed me, and it gave me an ill humour.

After installing them into an empty room nearby, I carefully followed the stairs down to a dark basement, subconsciously clutching my chest, the breath sobbing in my throat. The air was noticeably cooler than in the floor above when I reached the bottom.

I started violently when something brushed up against my leg, but was calmed instantly when I realised it was the ginger cat. She rubbed comfortingly up against my leg, and then traipsed towards the far left side of the room.

I thought it was empty, except for a few rags heaped against the wall. When the cat nuzzled the pile and it shifted, with shock I realised that it was not clothes.

"Rye!" I yelped, and flung myself across the room to where he lay, the pain from my broken rib abandoned. I landed hard on my knees just as Rye opened one slitted grey eye. It seemed unfocused, but there must have been recognition as he sighed and said, "Ady."

The hoarseness of his voice frightened me, and I barely registered the tears in my eyes – I do not know if they were caused by my fiercely protesting ribs or witnessing the present state of Rye – probably both.

It was at this second that cold steel pressed against my throat.

.xXx.

A/N: Well, that's the end of this chapter!!! I decided to write most of this chapter from Adalia's POV, because what is the point of a character going into a suicidal mission if you don't experience the building of tension? None at all, I answered myself. So there it is. Lol I find it funny that I am torturing you all with yet another cliff-hanger, but hopefully you can all contrive to live until next week to find out the ending!

Peace, Skyflyte12 : )


	35. Owl with Glistening Feathers

A/N: I have to say – I _love_ this chapter!!! Enjoy

**Chapter 35: The Owl with Glistening Feathers**

"What are ya doin down here?" A voice hissed in my ear.

The cold steel pressed harder against my throat, so that I was forced slowly away from Rye. I would have risked disarming the person had it been only my life on the line, but I had Rye to think about. There was no way that I would leave him.

I stood stock still, assessing my situation. I have to say it looked bad. Very bad.

The voice hissed again, "What's your name, boy?"

Ok. So right then was not the time to be indignant, but I couldn't help it. I'll be the first to admit I was hysterical and worried and that is not a good mix of emotions. To my horror, I heard indignant words escape from my lips, "_Boy_? I'm insulted."

To my complete astonishment, quiet chuckling escaped the lips of my captor… there was something about that sound that stirred a memory within me. When the voice spoke again, there was a feminine edge to it that I hadn't noticed before, "Atta girl, Ady. Ya haven't changed since last time I met ye."

All of a sudden the blade was removed from my throat and the presence at my back disappeared as my previous captor stepped around me, reaching down to Rye. I started forward out of reflex, and grabbed the person's wrists. Now that I could see her face – for this was clearly a woman – I realised that I knew her. Releasing her arms, I cocked my head to the side while observing her land beside Rye. I watched as she carefully ran her fingers over his wounds, which began to knit together with the help of brown magic.

"What are you doing here, Iola? Last time I saw you, you were on a boat to Carthak. Don't tell me my Ma has the Chain spying on me; I thought Shard was doing a bang up job." Now that I could see up close, it looked like Rye had been healed before. Somehow Iola had managed to sneak down here and heal him just enough to keep him alive without raising the suspicions of Justin.

Iola pushed some black hair out of her eyes and continued healing Rye. Not looking at me, she shook her head, "Is this really the time to worry about how I got here, rather than be glad that I am? This Grenike guy is insane; Rye here would have been dead if I hadn't contrived to get hired into this house as a war mage."

Rye seemed to stir, and I dropped down next to him despite the protests from my ribs. Fresh scars were visible all down his arms, although they were not healed all the way, and Iola was now working on his back. It looked even worse than it had in the scrying fire. Dried blood stuck to the wounds that were red and angry. I unhooked a water skin that I stole from one of the guards and used some of it to wash the blood off his back. I felt Rye tense and then all of a sudden he was unconscious. It was probably just as well, because healings _hurt_ when you were conscious for them.

A few minutes later a sweating Iola wiped her forehead and withdrew her magic. I immediately handed her the half empty water skin, which she gulped down thirstily.

When she had finished, I was biting my lip, nervous about what she would say about Rye…he was still in a bad way, although from the looks of it Iola had managed to heal the broken bones and the worst of the cuts and burns. She finished the water with a flourish and her gaze snagged my own grave face.

Her face held more lines than had been present at our last meeting, and they all showed in the strained but reassuring smile she offered me. "He'll live, but only as long as you don't run into Grenike or any of the guards on the way out; they all know what he looks like. I can help you with that, if you could carry him."

I nodded quickly and bent down, and with Iola's help managed to drape his arm across my shoulders. Blessing my crow abilities, I stood up while supporting Rye awkwardly. I couldn't stop the wince that came from the pain in my chest, reminding me that I had been an idiot. Iola started forward with her hands, but I shoved them away, "Come on, we've gotta go."

Iola stood for a moment in indecision, but then moved to the wall on the other side of the dungeon. She ran her hands over the flawless stone, and I could see traces of her Gift probing the wall. It stopped and gathered around a large stone, and to my immense surprise it shot out of the wall and into the dungeon, falling neatly a fair distance away from the opening that was now present.

Iola pointed to the hole, "Go through there and you'll come out a fair way away. Darni and I made this a week ago, when Rye said he knew ye. We could not stand by and watch what Grenike was doing, and if you hadn't come in a few days we were gonna smuggle him out ourselves, though we didn't think it would work. This is your best bet of getting out here alive."

I furrowed my brows, "How did you know I would come?"

Iola grinned with some amusement and raised her own brow, "It's not like you to sit around twiddling your thumbs while someone's in trouble. Specially not someone who _loves_ you."

I felt red tinge my cheeks, and Iola laughed and suddenly pushed Rye and me through the hole. I was worried about how small it was, until all of a sudden it widened out and I could get to my feet.

I heard something shift behind me, and suddenly the passage was totally black. Iola must have replaced the damn stone, but all could do was stand still, listening to Rye's shallow breathing and my own, which was coming in short rasps due to the pain from my ribs.

I was frozen in fright. The walls seemed to be creeping closer, even though I hadn't moved and moments before I saw that the tunnel was quite wide. I swore under my breath. Crows were meant to fly above the ground, not be trapped under it.

The blackness was immovable. It beared down on me, ominous and menacing. I could feel the yards of earth pressing down on me until I wanted to scream. My heart was racing, and all I could feel was the icy grip of fear around it.

All of a sudden, the weight on my shoulder shifted slightly, and a rough hand found my face, caressing it. Shocked, my gaze snapped to Rye, and I could see the glint of white that was his eyes. He didn't say anything, perhaps he couldn't, but I could feel his love for me. I could _feel_ it, as if it were a physical force.

I closed my eyes and counted to ten, gathering my wits. I had been a fool. How was I supposed to save Rye while I was frozen in terror? Biting my lip, I braced myself to walk forwards into the darkness.

Opening my eyes although they did no good, I put a hand to the side of the passage and took a hesitant step forwards. And then another. I could still feel the metres of earth pressing down on me, and the menacing blackness was still present. Only the weight on my shoulder kept me focused, kept me taking the next step.

.xXXx.

When I finally exited the tunnel, taking a large breath of fresh air and smelling the wonderful aroma of trees and flowers… both scents that I had been afraid I would never experience again, it seemed as though my sense of time had been muddled. It had been early in the night when I entered the house, and by the position of the sun, it was very late afternoon right then. I had spent a night and a day in that gods curst tunnel. No wonder I was so damn tired.

The whole way Rye had said not a word, and now I could see that he was asleep. The tunnel had led to a little hollow underneath a rock that jutted out. The cut passage had ended some time back, and it seemed that Iola had just connected the dungeon to a pre-existing cave. Scrutinising the clearing, I saw that it was hidden among a thick covering of trees, and decided that this would be as good a place as any to sleep. It would also be better for Rye to sleep without being jostled around.

I lay Rye down on the ground, careful to avoid placing him on a tree root, and covered him in the small blanket I had contrived to obtain. Standing up, I shook out my arms and shoulders, suddenly feeling much lighter. I scanned the trees once more, and upon seeing an owl, I was relieved. 'Would you please wake me if people come close to this place?' I asked it.

The owl sounded old and motherly as she said _'Yes I will. Now get some rest, foolish crow.'_

I managed to scowl at the owl half-heartedly. Why did almost every animal that I talked to call me a foolish crow? I huffed. That was discrimination that was. Oh, well, at least now I could get some sleep.

Dropping to the ground a little bit away from Rye, my eyes closed, and the last thing I saw was the sky.

.xXXx.

When I woke, I was warm. This seemed extremely strange, as it was generally cold in the foothills of the Grimhold Mountains - even in the summer. Especially if you were unfortunate enough to be bereft of a blanket, most likely being chased by an army of foot soldiers who were under orders of an insane but powerful mage, and trapped out in the wilderness, with only an owl as a lookout. Well, the second part just made things uncomfortable, not cold; accept if you blame the being trapped outside part on our chasers, which I do.

I was groggily becoming conscious of the world, and started to realise why I was warm. There was a presence at my back, and a blanket was draped over me. I also felt an arm around my waist, and my legs were tangled with someone else's. I stirred and tried to get up, but the arms tightened. I felt a warm breath at the back of my neck, and Rye whispered, voice heavy with emotion, "A few more minutes, please, Adalia. You have no idea how much I have wanted you this past week, how much I have missed you. Grenike said…he said you were gone and wouldn't come…"

I turned my head so that our gazes met, and what I saw in Rye's stormy grey eyes made me shiver agreeably, although my blood was boiling from his touch. I gazed at him and said seriously, "Nothing could have kept me away. You should have known that."

He held my eyes, seeming to be looking into my soul. We both understood each other completely. It wasn't enough to say we had missed the other. Rye's voice was husky as he said, "I did…I did." He then kissed me lightly, so lightly as to be teasing. My blood was churning and I turned into the kiss, deepening it.

I didn't have a grasp on time, so there was no telling how long we were like that. Rye had moved on to kissing my neck, which was extremely distracting. My hand went to his, which was resting on my neck, when I noticed that something was missing.

I wrenched myself away from Rye and stumbled back a few steps, to clear my head. He started towards me, eyes filled with heat and desire, but I put hands on his chest to stop him. I could feel the heat of his skin through his shirt, but forced myself to focus on Rye. Silently, I pointed to my neck. He raised a brow quizzically, and I sighed. Flicking hair out of my eyes, I said, "I changed into a crow to get here so fast, leaving my clothes and _necklace_ behind."

Comprehension dawned on his face, and I couldn't help but laugh. Soon I sobered and said teasingly, "I fear we'll have to continue this later, my most noble mage."

He sighed and looked at the rising sun. I looked as well, and decided it was still moderately early in the morning. "Ok, now how do we get out?" I asked looking at Rye expectantly.

He ran a hand through his hair, smiling slightly. "How am I supposed to know? You are the Knight in Shining Armour that came to rescue me, you're _supposed_ to know!"

I scratched my chin, a small smile touching my lips, "Opps, forgot about that part. And you're wrong. I am a _squire_ and I'm certainly _not_ in shining armour. Remember that I came here in feathers? Anyway, I thought that guys had to come to the rescue of maiden in distress."

He raised an eyebrow, "You are hardly in distress."

I put on a sad face and sniffed, "You don't know that! I might be distressed on the inside."

He rolled his eyes and tapped me on the nose, "You, my dear, have to learn to think things through."

I opened my mouth to reply, but to our horror, a deep voice replied first. "Oh no, she doesn't. Not when she doesn't have enough time to learn it in."

I jumped away to stand by Rye, and we both narrowed our eyes as Grenike, short and round with a red face and a vicious expression, appeared out of the cave. At his back were four guards, two of which had large red bruising on their foreheads. One of them held Iola at dagger point, and another held the small man that I recognised as Darni. They both sported ugly red bruises and even burn marks on their faces alone, and as I met Iola's eyes, I could see that she hated her captors and certainly didn't tell them of her own volition. I also saw the fiery rage her gaze held.

"What do you want, Grenike?" I snarled.

He smiled in a simpering way that was damn annoying. "My dear, I want to know how you bypassed all my security, but I would settle for just killing you."

I spat at his feet, "That will never happen."

He raised a mocking eyebrow and looked around, "Oh really? Because it looks like I've got you beaten. These two will die if you don't give me back the mage's son. There is no one to help you, and I seriously doubt that you could take us all, and even if you tried your friends would be killed instantly."

I swore at him furiously in every language I knew, damning him and his ancestors, all the while my fingers were itching to close around his flabby throat.

The mage looked impressed, "How does such a young one know so many ways to curse my name? It does not matter either way, so I will reward your creativity. I am going to destroy Tortall. I will be able to do it with all the power Numair will give me, and no one will be able to oppose me. We will rule the World."

I rolled my eyes, "No one person can rule the world. You are insane."

His eyes were flinty as he focused on my face, but he laughed mockingly, "Nothing can stop Us, it's already in motion."

'_Foolish crow, get ready to attack!'_

I was distracted by the scolding voice in my head, and realised that it was the voice of the orange cat that had helped me when I infiltrated the castle. I immediately felt bad that I had forgotten her so easily, but had to push that away, as there were more important things on my mind. I couldn't help some confusion creeping into my face as I questioned the mage, "Us…?"

He opened his mouth, but at that moment a very loud yowl ripped through the clearing, and something orange leapt on Grenike's face. I jumped forward, releasing daggers as the owl from the night before swooped down and yanked a dagger out of one of the guard's hands, and a crow was doing likewise for the other. Iola and Darni knocked out the guards that had been holding them and accepted daggers from the animals, backing away from the fighting.

I threw myself into the thick of it by taking down the other two guards in one fell kick. I turned to Grenike just as he viciously removed the cat from his head. It yowled and ran off, stopping near Rye, who was standing in front of the worn out Iola and Darni, lest they attempt to interfere, or were killed by one of the guards. He trusted me to kill this atrocity of a mage, and I would oblige more than willingly.

Levering my dagger at him, I just had to ask one more question. "Who are Us?"

He gave me a scalding look and opened his mouth. Suddenly, he started turning purple, making horrible chocking noises. He fell to his knees, gasping desperately for air. And then he keeled over and breathed no more.

I sheathed my daggers and glanced back at Rye, "That was unexpected."

He was staring at the dead man and said, "It was a spell, which was triggered by you asking who Us are. Maybe this is something more than a lone madman."

I tapped my chin and moved towards them, but almost tripped over the orange cat, which was at my feet. She mewed indignantly and clawed her way up my leg, settling around my shoulders. I had not noticed the cat's presence, and heard Rye snickering as I turned to her, brows raised. 'What are you doing?'

She started purring and said in a clipped voice, '_Adopting you. I think foolish crows need a keeper, and I will take that job. My name is Sati.'_ And with that, the cat sunk in its claws and fell asleep.

Rye was laughing, and I've got to say I was shocked and indignant. Fancy a cat thinking that I needed a keeper. Sati had managed to get herself into the thick of the fighting, not to mention being wounded. I had to admire her courage, but still, the fact that a foolish cat had said that I needed a keeper… ironic. Oh well, I did owe her for helping me find Rye, as well as helping me get out of a tricky situation. Plus, if I really was honest with myself, I kind of liked the cat. She was entertaining.

I shot Rye a warning look as I approached them, and stretched my arms, "So, have you thought of a way to get us out of this mess yet?"

He shook his head and said sorrowfully, "Ady, Ady, Ady, we discussed this before. I am the one being rescued –"

-_ 'Follow me; I will take you to your companions. They aren't far away, for when the bad man died the barrier broke fully. Even now, many of the men who were hiding in our forest are running away.'_

I looked up at the owl and smiled my thanks, then turned back to Rye and said soothingly, "All solved. Now we can both be rescued by the Owl in Glistening Feathers."

Iola and Darni snorted their laughter, and Rye struggled to stay silent by helping Darni to his feet. I helped Iola up, and we followed slowly behind the owl, which was careful to stay in sight.

After a while of winding through trees, we came upon a clearing. "Have we missed much?" I asked innocently, while taking in the sight of about 30 men tied up with men of the Own guarding them, as well as Kel, Raoul and Numair seemingly arguing in the centre of the clearing.

.xXXx.

All three heads snapped up, and Adalia couldn't help but laugh at the expressions on their faces.

Numair shot towards Rye, and the two embraced. Adalia noticed a few tears at the corners of Numair's eyes, and she was happy that she had been able to save him from an impossible decision. She was extremely surprised to find herself caught up by Kel, which reminded her of the broken ribs, and could not disguise a yelp of pain.

Kel let her go quickly and worriedly scanned Adalia for injuries. None were visible, and Kel opened her mouth to ask, but Adalia cut her off by muttering, "Broken rib. Grenike died. I didn't get a chance to kill him; there was some kind of suicide spell that did it for me. I think the owl will show you where."

The owl hooted in consent, and Kel hurriedly gestured to some of the Own to go and get them. Iola and Darni were taken over to the healers, and Adalia went to follow them, but Kel caught her hand, "You are in a lot of trouble, squire." She said sternly.

Adalia gazed at the ground sheepishly, and then back up at her knight master. Kel was trying to stifle laughter. Adalia raised an eyebrow, "So you're not going to feed me to cats?"

Kel rolled her eyes, "No, I dare say I will, but I think some jousting would be just perfect."

Adalia flinched and sighed, "If I must…"

"You must." Said Kel firmly. Adalia slouched her shoulders and walked over to the Healers, and had even got a few metres away when Kel said, "It looks like you have a hitchhiker."

Adalia spun around in confusion, and then noticed the cat on her shoulders. She sighed miserably, "Not a hitchhiker. Sati says she is my keeper, so I think you can rest easily now."

Kel actually laughed, as did the members of the Own that had heard her answer. Adalia sighed loudly and raised her hands to the heavens, and with the theatrical voice of a Player proclaimed sorrowfully, "It is my curse to always be misunderstood."

Kel just laughed louder, and Adalia, with one last glare, hunched her shoulders and walked over to the Healers.

.xXXx.


	36. Aftermath

**Chapter 36: Aftermath**

"AHHHHHH!"

The surprised shriek rang out loudly around the otherwise silent camp, causing many a soldier to wake. Some soldiers were rubbing their eyes and staring tiredly out of their tent flaps when they saw a very irritated squire running after her new ginger cat. The soldiers who were awake enough to see this unusual sight burst into raucous laughter.

Kel, who was poking her head out of the tent she shared with Dom, was extremely amused by the goings on, and yelled out teasingly, "Adalia, why are you chasing after Sati this early in the morning? I never figured you for an early riser!"

Adalia streaked around a few tents, keeping her cat in sight, but managed to call back sourly, "The goddam cat was sleeping on my face!" And then she let out a loud war cry while diving at Sati. She missed and let out a frustrated noise, wringing her hands as her cat streaked off.

Kel snorted and then laughed in full, as did her husband, who was watching the proceedings over her shoulder.

Sati disappeared from sight into a tent not far off, and Adalia jumped up and continued in her pursuit.

She stalked slowly into the tent, and was met with a somewhat amusing sight. Sati was sitting behind Rye, whose hair was mussed from sleep. Rye was blinking slowly, but Adalia ignored him and approached her cat, glaring at her. "_Why _did you decide to sleep on my head?"

Sati licked her paws and answered primly, _'Seemed like a good idea at the time.'_

Adalia made a frustrated noise and rubbed her temples.

Sati was practically no more then a kitten, having just reached adulthood in cat years. She was small for a cat, but Adalia guessed that was more due to a lack of food stunting her growth. She had lighter and darker patches of ginger all over, as well as bright green eyes. Adalia started forward menacingly, "Well, now you _know_ that it wasn't a good idea -"

The end of Adalia's sentence was muffled as Rye yanked her down beside him. She struggled as he pinned her legs and arms, then put a hand over her mouth. He was smiling roguishly as he said, "Don't kill Sati, she was just doing what I asked her to."

Adalia raised her eyebrows, but was impeded from speech by the hand still firmly over her mouth.

Rye winked at Sati and replaced the hands with his lips.

.xXXx.

Ten minutes later Adalia exited the tent with an amused Sati purring on her shoulder, and a much more optimistic outlook for the day. They had been travelling for two weeks, and were due to reach Corus around noon. Adalia and Rye had had to repeat everything that Grenike had said, and Raoul and Kel both thought it was worth looking into his ravings about 'Us' or whatever it was - just in case it had some truth to it.

Kel, who was helping with breakfast, greeted her, "I thought you wanted to kill Sati. It was quiet in that tent for a while, I was going to come in to check you hadn't actually done it; I would miss her."

Adalia coloured slightly and absent-mindedly stroked Sati. Kel let a small smile slip through her mask as a rumpled Rye stumbled out of his tent – the one that Adalia had just left. All the soldiers knew they were a couple, and that the relationship was innocent. Kel had been keeping a close eye on the sleeping arrangements, so sadly they had no time to test out the charm – but neither of them were complaining, as it was just good to hang out together again – ever since Adalia became a squire, they hadn't been able to spend much time in each other's company.

Kel handed Adalia a bowl of something that was edible and sat down herself. Rye quickly swiped a bowl for himself and took space on the log next to Adalia, and they began an animated conversation about nothing in particular.

Kel watched in silence, and she was heartened to recognise the look evident on both Ady and Rye's faces as they teased each other – it was the look Dom gave her, and she felt herself giving him. They honestly loved each other. Kel was happy that they didn't dance around each other like she and Dom had done for ages.

Once they had finished their meal, Adalia turned to Kel and asked, "Oh glorious Knight Master, might I inquire as to the nature of our next journey?"

Kel raised an eyebrow, "I'm not certain, but did you just ask me what we will be doing next?"

Adalia nodded slowly, looking at Kel, "Yes, but my way sounds so much more elegant and dramatic. You take all the fun out of things."

Kel patted her on the shoulder, "Ah, but that is my job, squire. In answer to your question, I guess we will probably be stuck in Corus for a while, but I guess after that we will go help the Own… maybe even the Riders."

"Sounds fun!"

"Keep telling yourself that my crow."

Adalia raised her eyebrows in surprise, "Why would I stop?"

.xXXx.

They arrived gloriously just after noon, and Adalia was ambushed by Kula, Daniel and Nathan, who just happened to be at the palace with their knight masters. Charlie had – of course – been with Raoul, and had already had his chance to berate Adalia for doing something so stupid, but these three found it sufficient to scold her again, if only to make the lesson stick.

They had finally forgiven her, but Adalia had been unable to cajole them into sparring with her, so they spent the rest of the day resting – Ady, Rye and Charlie filled the others in fully as to the details of their most recent mission.

After dinner, Adalia and Rye retired early together.

.xXXx.

A/N: Ok. Very sad, but I have totally run dry as to ideas to fill the last two years. I really wanted to write the Ady/Rye thing, so we all know how their relationship is going (yay!) but next chapter will be my last for this story. It's gonna be an epilogue. Heads up – nothing unusual happens in the next 2 years – all Adalia's friends pass their ordeals, Ady has been training and journeying about with Kel, learning more about battle and covering a few patrols on the Tusaine border - although there was no impending war. I am actually really sad that this story is ending. I do, however, have quite a few ideas about how her knighthood pans out, so I might writ about that – but not for ages.

Heres saying thanks for all my loyal readers/reviewers, I am sorry that this was pretty much a bridge chapter, but I didn't want to go straight to the prologue.

Thanks from Skyflyte12 : )

**P.S: **To anyone who feels like killing me, I would firstly like to point out there _is_ one more chapter coming, so wait till after that to berate me. Also, you may contrive to take a look at my other stories, I have links to this one in most of them.


	37. Epilogue

A/N: I can't believe I made it to the last chapter, I think I'm gonna cry.

Ok, so I was planning to list all my reviewers, but I found out that there are just too much of you, and it would take forever. So I give my dearest thanks for my 293 reviews so far, as well as the 58 people who have favourited this story, and the 79 people with alerts. Oh, and if any of you feel like approaching me in a dark alley for finishing this, I'd like to say that I do karate and that middnightblue33 said that she's got my back.

Oh, another thing that may placate you is that this is not the end of Adalia's story, there are a few loose ends which I will use to create a lovely story covering the first year or so of her knighthood, so you can all look forward to that. :) And that's about it, so read on and enjoy!

**Epilogue **

_**December 14, 486 HE**_

Early morning frost coloured the grass a delicate white, causing it to crunch under the boots of the soldiers who were scurrying about the makeshift camp. All were wearing coats to ward off the cold, as midwinter was fast approaching… much to the discontent of one of their number. The number who, currently, was nowhere to be found.

Kel, Dom, Raoul and Charlie sat around the fire, warming up with some of the soldiers and eating breakfast. Sati was lolling on Raoul's lap. Third Company had just finished cleaning out some spidren nests. Charlie had been a full knight for almost a year now, and had been assigned to the Own.

All of a sudden, there was a loud creaking sound, and something large crashed to the ground. All at the camp were instantly on alert, heads turned in the direction of the sound. After a few moments of silence, Raoul asked nervously, "Was that a –"

"- Tree. Yes." Kel cut him off. She cleared her throat, and yelled, "Adalia, are you all right?" in the direction from which the sound came. Her squire, soon to be a knight, had been training in that general area.

All in the camp heard Adalia's voice shout back, "Sorry, my Bad."

Kel shook her head, and turned to face the raised eyebrows of the three men sitting around her. She and Ady had recently joined Third Company on the way to Corus from New Hope, so they had not experienced the extent of Adalia's anxiety concerning her Ordeal. "Now who wants to go over there and make sure Adalia doesn't kill herself?" She asked with false brightness.

All three sat in silence, none of them willing to volunteer themselves for a job when they had no idea what it would involve. Kel sighed and stood up, scowling at them, "Some men you are, being afraid of a girl." She then started heading in the direction of her squire.

What she didn't hear was her son's retort, "Only because that girl is scary."

.xXXx.

What Kel found was Adalia, long black hair tied back into a ponytail, violet eyes hard and fiercely determined as she practised a series of shang moves. Kel almost winced at the sheer ferocity and power that could be seen in the movements, which made the air whistle with their speed.

Adalia started practising her punches on one of the trees, and bits of the trunk splintered off, breaking away, piece by piece. A tree lay on the forest floor, metres away, and it looked like it had been Adalia's previous victim. If Kel didn't interfere soon, this tree would suffer the same fate. With this in mind, Kel put two fingers in her mouth and whistled as loud as she knew how.

This had the desired effect, breaking Adalia's concentration. She jumped away from the tree in surprise, automatically raising her hands into a defensive position. Upon recognising Kel, she clearly forced herself to smile sheepishly, putting her hands behind her back. She then asked lightly, "What are you doing here, oh great knight master of mine?"

Kel raised her eyebrows and approached Adalia, "Squire, you're being stupid."

Adalia's eyes were guarded as she said, "So what if I am?" Then she sat down abruptly, seeming to collapse on the ground. Kel was close enough now to see her swipe angrily at the frustrated tears that were glistening on her cheeks. Kel silently sat down next to her, putting her arms around Adalia's shoulders. Adalia would talk when she was ready.

Adalia was nothing like the ten-year-old who had arrived in Tortall to begin training for her knighthood. Years of training, friends, fighting and finding love had made her into the eighteen-year-old she was today. Kel had seen the fierce determination that accompanied Adalia in everything she did, and she was proud of the girl that had become like a daughter to her.

Kel was rewarded for her patience as Adalia said quietly, "I'll admit it. I know it's incredibly stupid and I've probably done much worse stuff but… I'm scared. Of the Ordeal."

Kel shook her head, "It would be stupid of you not to be scared of the Ordeal."

Adalia's violet eyes were shocked as she looked straight into Kel's hazel ones. The knight nodded, as if this was the most natural thing in the world and said, "I was scared as well. Most knights _remain _scared, even after they pass it. What is it that scares you most about it? I'm sure you've done things that are much scarier than entering a room."

Adalia looked unseeingly into the forest, considering the question. Reluctantly, she replied, "I guess it's just not knowing, not even being able to fight it. In all the things I have attempted, I could always rely on myself; there was always something I could do. In this Ordeal, I will only be able stand still and take it. I've experienced being totally helpless once, and I've got no wish to experience it again." With the last words, Kel felt a shiver creep up the young woman's spine.

Kel surprised Adalia by shaking her, and saying forcefully, "Yes, it is the unknown, but think about this: What have you been working towards for the last eight years of your life? Don't you want to be able to make a difference? Think of all the good you've done already, and all the good you'll do in the future. You _can_ do this."

Exactly as Kel had intended, the hard words crashed through the panic that had settled around her squire. Adalia looked at the sky, which was a clear blue, and said simply, but reluctantly, "I know that I _can_."

Kel was surprised to hear this; there was certainty in her voice. She tilted her head to the side and asked, "Then what's the problem?"

"The Ordeal is very scary, that's true. But what I feel even more scared about is what will happen _after_ it as well. Since I was ten my purpose was to become a knight, but after I become one, what can I strive for next? What if I don't do anything…what if my life loses its purpose? I can't just sit around like lots of other knights do, I _am_ a crow – I need to fly. I can't be cooped up while waiting to do something useful. I've made myself into a weapon, and a weapon needs to be used, else wise it rusts."

Kel couldn't believe she hadn't noticed that Adalia was worried about two unknowns – the Ordeal, which struck fear into all knights, and her future. She sighed, "The future is unknown to us all. If you keep 'what if'-ing yourself, you'll go insane. All anyone can do is stick to our morals and do our best, take one step at a time. And for you right now, that means trying to forget about what will happen in the future. I will give you some advice: "Learn from the past, Live in the present, and Ignore the future."

Adalia thought this over, slowly nodding her head. Then she asked wearily but cheerfully, "What would I do without my wise knight master?"

Kel shook her head, "Destroy more innocent trees."

Adalia looked surprised then noticed the tree that was on the ground, only a few yards away. Shaking her head guiltily, she said, "Opps. I didn't mean to do that… I guess I was just so caught up with being nervous that I couldn't suppress my crow side. It's been kinda hard to handle lately. I think it's just reached its peak, and I haven't been able to properly use all the energy, what with being cooped up at New Hope."

Adalia scratched her chin thoughtfully and was surprised when Kel's Yamani smooth face was creased with a concerned frown. "What?"

Kel grabbed the hand, drawing Adalia's gaze to it. It wasn't a pleasant sight. Obviously the tree had gotten its revenge; her knuckles were cut and blood was oozing out of the gashes. Her other hand was in a similar condition. Adalia was tempted to give the evil eye to the tree, but decided she had caused it enough pain, and allowed Kel to force her back to camp to be healed.

.xXXx.

It took a full week for the party to reach Corus.

When they came within view of the city, it still took Adalia's breath away, just like it had on her first visit, but now for a different reason.

Before, she had been excited and nervous to come to an alien land, and was seeing things different from how they were in the Copper Isles.

Now, it was home. Only the feeling of nervousness was the same, albeit for a different reason. Her Ordeal. She had avoided thinking about it for most of her squire years, but when Kel had reminded her two weeks ago that they had to leave for Corus, all the anxiety and nerves that had gone unacknowledged had sprung into painful existence. Hence her brooding.

In mere minutes, the party arrived in the courtyard of the Own's stables. Adalia dismounted from Sora and turned towards the stables, only to come face-to-face with Kula. Ok, so it wasn't exactly face-to-face, as Kula was at least half a head taller than her, but she was still there. And behind her was Nathan. "What are you doing here?" She asked in surprise.

"You're coming with me." That was Kula, and despite her passive face, Adalia could have sworn that her eyes were pure mischief.

Adalia almost automatically raised her hands in defence, shaking her head, "No, I can't right now. I have to… I have to look after Sora and Anika!"

Kula shook her head in a negative, "Sorry, not going to work. That's what Nathan here is for, and I've got orders to bring you with me if you want to or not!"

Kula grabbed Adalia's elbow and led her off into the palace, while her horses followed Nathan into the stables. She muttered "Traitors" at them but could think of nothing to do other than allow Kula to have her way.

.xXXx.

Five minutes later, Adalia was pushed into her grandmother's suite, and given lunch. Alanna, blunt as ever, got straight to the point, "How are you feeling, Ady?"

Adalia shook her head, irritated, "You have no idea how much people have asked me that lately."

Alanna raised an eyebrow, "And…?"

Adalia smiled nervously, "Truthfully? Scared."

"Good. That means you're not stupid." Alanna nodded her head, eyes sparkling, "Now, do you want to know when you have to take it?"

Adalia took in a large breath, "Fine tell me now, else I'll never have the courage to ask again."

"It's tomorrow. Starts at sundown."

Adalia's mouth hung open in shock. "WHAT THE HECK? Why did no one tell me?"

She was very close to hyperventilating as Kel walked in and assessed the situation.

Alanna and Kula were trying not to laugh at the panicked look on her squire's face. Kel cleared her throat, "Hmm. From the look on all your faces, I gather that you told her."

Alanna smiled sheepishly, "I couldn't resist breaking the news to my granddaughter. Can you blame me?"

Kel smiled and turned her attention to Adalia, who was looking at her reproachfully, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Kel arched her eyebrows, "You're acting like _this_ and you wonder _why_ I didn't tell you sooner?"

Adalia rolled her eyes, "Fine, so I'm overreacting more than just a smidge, but gods, you could have told me sooner!" After pacing up and back a few times, she stopped and addressed Kel again, "So… who is going to instruct me?"

Alanna spoke up, going over to give her a hug, "Do you think I'd miss out on helping you? It's going to be me and Kel."

Adalia sighed her relief and hugged her grandma back. After a few moments, she stepped away and said, "Ok. Is it all right if I go for a walk? I've got to sought out a few things."

Their eyes revealed that they were reluctant to let her go, but Alanna smiled and said, "Sure."

.xXXx.

Adalia escaped from her grandma's suite with her nervousness for company. _'Oh Gods. I have to do this tomorrow. I'm not ready!'_

Having been banned from training at the palace – Kel had expressly said the gain for her would be too much of a hazard for the other people on the courts – she drifted. Taking it all in. Finally, she managed to impose some kind of calm over herself. She would have to take the Ordeal, so there was no point worrying about it – that was just making it worse.

After making this decision, she finally took stock of her surroundings. Her feet had taken her outside the page's wing. Looking up at the building, she saw the third storey window that was hers when she was a page…and got an idea. She scaled the building and walked across the roof, taking in the familiar breathtaking view.

Before she reached the specific section of roof she was aiming for, Adalia was surprised to see that someone was already there. Someone she recognised, even from the distance.

Adalia stood on the spot, looking at the person from a distance. His back was to her, and he seemed tense. Just taking him in, a lot of the extra nervousness that had built up seemed to flow away; somehow his mere presence made her feel protected.

She made no noise, but he turned around, and she witnessed his expression change from worried to relieved. The stormy grey eyes seemed to reach for her own, just like they had hundreds of time before. "Hey Ady."

Adalia smiled and made the last few metres onto the small platform, into his open arms. "What are you doing up here?" She asked softly.

He pulled her in tighter, "I knew you'd come here sooner or later."

She looked into his eyes, showing him what his presence meant. "Thanks."

He put a thumb on her cheek and gently wiped away a tear that ran down it. "Don't mention it."

She turned her face up to receive a soft kiss, filled with his love. It fairly took her breath away.

After long minutes, she broke away and took a proper look out at Corus. The sun was setting, the light receding over the horizon, leaving the town dark. Rye moved away from her and Adalia instantly felt colder for the loss of his body heat. Turning around, she raised her eyebrows when she noticed a bedroll and a lot of blankets spread out. "How did you manage to get all that up here?" She asked curiously.

He grinned crookedly and pulled her down with him, "Ady, Ady, Ady. A mage never reveals his tricks."

"You're acting like a child." She retorted while cuddling up to him.

His face revealed shock, "I'm _wounded_. I act much older than a child!"

Adalia chuckled, "Fine. Maybe a teenager." she conceded grudgingly.

He traced her jaw with a finger, eyes glinting mischievously. "I can live with that." And he leaned down and kissed her thoroughly.

After a few moments she shoved him off and sat up. Trying to force away a smile she stretched, "So, we have a bed on a roof. What do we do?"

Rye's breath was on the back of her neck as he said heatedly, "I can think of a few things."

She grinned and turned to face him, feeling her blood boiling. "Really? I can't."

He rolled his eyes and pulled her back down, smiling against her mouth.

.xXXx.

In the morning she woke up with the feeling of being watched. Upon opening one eye and catching a glimpse of Rye watching her she closed them again and snuggled further into the blankets.

"Morning, sweet." He said.

Ady groaned, "What's so good about it?"

"You're here. That's always good."

Adalia smiled, "You're a very good sweet talker, but I haven't forgotten about my Ordeal."

Rye's arms tightened around her waist and he said, "I love you, you know that?"

Adalia smiled softly and looked into his sincere eyes, "Yes. And I hope that you know I love you as well."

He nodded, "Good. I want you to promise me something."

"What?" She asked nervously, not exactly sure why he was so sombre.

He took a breath, "Promise me that you will come out of that room tomorrow."

This had been her own worry as well, but she knew that she couldn't promise that, even though she wanted to. "Rye… I wish I could, but you know as well as I do that nothing is certain. I hope that I've done enough and that I'll have the courage to get through it. Even if I don't come out, you should know that I love you now and always will."

Rye looked miserable, just like Adalia felt. His arms tightened and he said, "I wish I could help you with this, but I can't. I do have something to say to you. Ady, never doubt your courage, or yourself. You can do this, and I will be very angry with you if you don't come out."

She grinned, "Thank you for your words of wisdom, my most noble mage. I'll remember them. And I promise to try not to get myself killed."

Rye's face lightened a little and he said, "Good" and then kissed her soundly.

After a while, Adalia managed to pull herself away and looked at the sun. She yelped and struggled out of the blankets. "They'll all think I flew away!"

Rye chuckled at her and disentangled himself from the sheets as well. "We better go down and calm them."

Adalia rolled her eyes and hit him playfully on the shoulder, "They probably think I've flown away, and you're laughing. I regret saying that you act like a teenager now."

He sighed. Then she started towards the edge of the roof, and he said, "Hey! How am I supposed to get down?"

She stopped, raised an eyebrow and looked at him, "How did you manage to get up here?"

He grinned roguishly, "You don't wanna know."

She shrugged, "Fine." Then Adalia turned around and jumped off the roof, laughing at Rye's dismay.

.xXXx.

It was almost time to start her Ordeal, and Adalia was extremely nervous. When she had arrived in the mess, a lot of people had scolded her for being missing for the night and half the morning. They had been curious as to her whereabouts, but she had been able to deflect direct questions with her obvious (and truthful) nervousness.

There it was, a knock on the door…

.xXXx.

Light was touching the high windows of the Chapel, and the dark-robed priests were filing into the room. One touched Adalia's shoulder, pointing to the ominous, heavy iron door. It was time for the Ordeal.

Adalia forced herself up on stiff legs, and followed the silent priest to the front of the Chapel. Her attention was fixed on the men unbarring the door of the Chamber, her hands sweaty and mouth bone dry. She was so consumed in watching the heavy door swing open that she didn't realize that behind her the Chapel was filling with her friends.

Swallowing hard and gathering her courage, she forced herself to walk inside. Swiftly the priests closed the door, leaving her in total darkness.

The darkness shifted and now she was in a horrifyingly familiar tunnel. It seemed to get darker, and with sheer horror Adalia realised that the walls were creeping closer. She could also feel the apparent earth that was above her pressing down. She bit her tongue. _'I didn't scream then, I refuse to scream now!'_ She thought grimly.

The walls were now so close that she could feel them pressing her sides. She tasted blood and forced herself to take a breath. _NO._ All of a sudden, the walls stopped moving and the weight on her sides disappeared.

She was now in a clearing. She could see something in the distance and approached. There were numerous enemies bearing down on a small ring of people – Her mother, grandmother and friends. She had to bite down hard on her tongue as she sprinted towards them. Tears came as she saw an arrow embedded in her mother's heart, her grandma was violently chopped in half. Her mind was screaming but she forced herself to stay silent.

The very worst thing was what happened when she reached them. When she charged at one of the enemy, she went straight through him. Not in the 'I chopped him down and killed him' way, but the 'I am a ghost' way. It was all she could do not to scream out at the injustice of being unable to fight to protect all she loved and knew.

When every last person was cut down, the enemy left and Adalia was the only living person on the grassy field, among all the dead. She dropped to the ground. In front of her was Rye, his eyes gazing vacantly ahead, a knife sticking out of his neck. Silent tears ran down her cheeks. _'What good does this do? Why is this important? Do you take pleasure in tormenting me?'_

Adalia didn't know or care if whatever the Chamber was could hear her, but she couldn't stay silent in her mind. _'This is totally stupid! The reason I wanted to be a knight is so that I can protect my loved ones. I will always _**– _always –_**_ be there. No one will die like that if I can help it!'_

All of a sudden the field disappeared; the grisly scene fading before her eyes.

Slowly, the Chamber door opened. She stumbled out, wiping at her cheeks, face set in a grim mask. That seemed too real for comfort. Kel and Alanna hurried forward, and caught her elbows. "You're alive." Adalia muttered in relief.

Alanna was slightly alarmed at the frail look of her, but just patted her shoulder, "I think you have to sleep."

Adalia feebly refused; she wanted to make sure that everyone else was ok, but they gently forced her out. Adalia got a glimpse at a very worried looking Rye. She attempted to smile at him, but it only seemed to worry him more.

Kel and Alanna put her to bed.

.xXXx.

Adalia was shaken awake late in the afternoon. She opened sleepy eyes to see Rye sitting over her, watching her concernedly. She felt the compulsion to touch him – to prove that he was alive. She smiled peacefully as she touched his hand, and the smile just grew wider when he seemed relieved. "Good afternoon."

He squeezed her hand and bent down to kiss her.

He sprang back when the door was opened unexpectedly. Kula poked her head around and raised an eyebrow at them, then said, "Adalia, you have to get into clean clothes for the Ceremony of Knighthood. It's very soon."

Adalia nodded her thanks and Kula looked pointedly at Rye, who sighed then followed her out, closing the door behind him. Adalia struggled into a shirt and breeches – both of which were slightly more elegant than her everyday clothes, and sauntered out the door.

She smiled when she saw that Daniel, Nathan, Charlie and Kaden were standing outside, as well as the two previously mentioned. She cheerfully greeted them all, and then they all led her down towards the large hall in which they held the short ceremony.

"Is Dameon's Ordeal tonight?" She asked softly. He was the only missing member of her group of close friends.

Nathan nodded, "Yup. I hope he passes."

Adalia smiled and clapped him on the back, "Of course he will. And so will you." Nathan nodded his thanks, but he still looked slightly white. His Ordeal was two days from now – the last day of Midwinter.

.xXXx.

A half hour later, Adalia was standing on the dais in the hall, before the newly coronated King Roald II. She knelt before him and gave her oath of fealty, swearing to defend Tortall and the Crown all of her life.

In turn, the King struck each of Adalia's shoulders with the flat of his sword, then gently tapped her head. "You are dubbed Lady Knight, Adalia of Pirate's Swoop." He announced solemnly as his court watched. "Remember your vows and service to this Crown. Remember your promise of Chivalry."

Adalia was surprised as people started applauding – first her friends and family present, (Alanna and George, who were glowing with pride) and then it spread to the rest of the court. She could feel tears of joy touching her cheeks as she stepped down from the dais and forced herself to calmly approach her grandmother, who scooped her into a fierce hug when she was within reaching distance.

George moved in to hug her, and she was touched to see the utter delight evident on his face. Kula was grinning from ear to ear, as were her other friends. When the immediate people parted enough for her to see Rye's face, she was rewarded when she saw the loved and pride etched on his face.

He stepped up to her, and whispered, "You did it, Lady Knight." And before she could react, swept her into a passionate kiss. At that moment, she couldn't give a damn who saw them – everyone already knew of their relationship anyway – so she just matched him kiss-for-kiss.

She reluctantly pulled away from him when her granddad elbowed her sharply in the ribs. She turned to around to scowl at him, but instead he pointed towards the dais, a crooked grin on his face, and Adalia followed his finger to see that the King had stepped down, and in his place were three people – Alanna, Kel and Kula.

The three Lady Knights of Tortall stood proudly on the platform, holding a covered shield. As Adalia watched, Alanna removed the cover, a mischievous twinkle evident in her eyes.

Adalia chuckled when she saw the design – there was no Pirate's Swoop device. Instead, it boasted a crow on a violet field, and the crow somehow seemed as though it was teasing, although it was still. There was also a distaff border – the coat of arms of a lady knight. "How very… fitting."

Her friends chuckled at her reaction as she stepped forward to accept her shield. As she held it up properly, she whispered to the other three, "A crow. How very…appropriate. But as if that will strike fear into the hearts of my enemies…they'll be more likely to guard their trinkets."

Alanna chuckled and said reprovingly, "Oh, don't be like that. You know that some people already call you the Crow. You have become respected, so just as I am the Lioness, you are the Crow. I couldn't resist."

Adalia took another look at the crow, and couldn't help but feel proud. Her grandmother had deemed her worthy, as had the Chamber.

Now, she could mould her future. As a Lady Knight of Tortall. As the Crow.

.xXXx.

A/N: The end. OMG it is done. Finished. Over. It doesn't feel real. I'd like to know how many of you would actually read about what she does as a knight, but apart from that, I'd just like to say a last thank you to everyone who has read and/or reviewed this. This is also the longest chapter I have written. Well, thanks. : ) –Skyflyte12


	38. AN Sequel

Ok

Hey people! The update some of you may have been waiting for…. The SEQUEL is up!! Check it out, it's called **The Legend of the Crow**

I'd just like to say one last thankyou, you guys have made writing this story fun! I hope you enjoy the sequel as much as you have enjoyed Granddaughter to the Lioness!


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